The City of Ottawa has come to an agreement with one of the leaders of the weeks-long demonstration that could see hundreds of trucks and other vehicles roll out of the residential areas in the downtown core over the next 24 hours.
Some of the vehicles won’t leave town, but may be moved to the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway, where many trucks have already been parked since day one.
In a letter sent Saturday to Tamara Lich, one of the Freedom Convoy 2022 organizers, Mayor Jim Watson outlined his concerns around the continuing downtown occupation.
“My overarching concern is for the safety and security of our residents, business owners and workers in the downtown core, who are innocent collateral damage of this unprecedented national and international demonstration,” he wrote.
“Our residents are exhausted and on edge, and our small businesses impacted by your blockades are teetering on the brink of permanent closure.”
Despite the city producing a letter from Lich agreeing to the arrangement, hours after the announcement, Lich tweeted the deal was a fake.
The media lies to their viewers. No “deal” has been made. End the mandates, end the passports. That is why we are here. <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Freedom?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Freedom</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/Truckersforfreedomconvoy2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#Truckersforfreedomconvoy2022</a> <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/FreedomConvoy2022?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#FreedomConvoy2022</a> <a href=”https://t.co/5uTEnm0wZ7″>https://t.co/5uTEnm0wZ7</a>
Hundreds of heavy trucks have been parked on city streets for more than two weeks, ever since a truck convoy rolled into the nation’s capital to protest various COVID-19 public health mandates.
Watson asked organizers to remove trucks from various residential areas by noon Monday. They include the residential streets south of Wellington Street and Parliament Hill, the ByWard Market and the parking lot of a baseball stadium on Coventry Road, where a large contingent of protesters created an encampment early on.
Trucks and other vehicles are parked on a residential stretch of Kent Street Sunday afternoon. Mayor Jim Watson says it may take up to 72 hours for them to relocate. (Joanne Chianello/CBC)
Protesters have now been asked to limit the trucks to Wellington Street between Elgin Street and the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway.
Given the fact there are roughly 400 trucks in the downtown core, Watson acknowledged it may take up to 72 hours to move them.
He also asked organizers to stop requesting other demonstrators join the protest in order to ensure the trucks are relocated.
In a letter to Mayor Jim Watson Saturday, protest organizer Tamara Lich said she agreed to the terms and that it was never the convoy’s intention to disturb residents and local businesses. Hours after the letter was released, she tweeted there was no deal. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
Organizer trying to get ‘buy-in’ from truckers
It’s unclear who exactly was involved in brokering this deal — if indeed one exists.
In the past, Ottawa police have said they were in contact with several of the convoy leaders, even before the protesters arrived in the city more than two weeks ago. Police have also conceded that the protest representatives they’ve been speaking with do not represent all the demonstrators.
In her letter to Watson, Lich said it was never the convoy’s intent to disturb residents and businesses and that — with the help of authorities — the trucks should start moving Monday.
“The Freedom Convoy Board agree with your request to reduce pressure on the residents and businesses in the City of Ottawa. We have made a plan to consolidate our protest efforts around Parliament Hill,” she wrote.
“We will be working hard over the next 24 hours to get buy-in from the truckers.”
Watson said he would also be willing to meet with Lich once the trucks are moved.
Reaction from downtown councillor, trucker
Tyler Armstrong was sitting in the cab of a truck Sunday when news of the deal broke, but told Radio-Canada he had not heard anything about it.
“If it’s to progress what we’re doing and move that forward, then I’m for it,” he said.
“People know we’re here to stay, so they know we’re not going to leave. One hundred per cent, I will not move. I will not leave until we get what we want, and I think a lot of the public know that.”
Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney, who represents the Centretown neighbourhood now overrun with protesters, said moving the vehicles off residential streets would be a positive.
“I always say I measure success in whether people can go to the grocery store, people can take the LRT safely, people can live on their streets without diesel fumes, toxic fumes,” said McKenney.
“That is the measure of success, so however that comes about, we have to wait and see. I want to see exactly what happens and how it happens.”
Demonstrators were still going strong on Saturday night, more than two weeks into the protest. (Jean-Francois Poudrier/Radio-Canada)
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
