Hundreds of motorcycles rolled through downtown Ottawa on Saturday as part of the weekend Rolling Thunder Ottawa rally.
Ottawa’s acting police chief Steve Bell told CBC three arrests were made on Saturday, along with seven arrests on Friday, bringing the total related to the rally to 10.
“You’ve seen us arrest a number of people who did have conditions not to attend the Ottawa area based on their being charged to the February convoy,” Bell said.
Police said a man was charged for breaching his bail conditions on Saturday.
A second man was arrested after a vehicle was driven onto the sidewalk at Elgin and Queen streets. Police said in a release the driver allegedly rushed an Ontario Provincial Police motorcycle at a checkpoint. The officer was not injured.
The man, who was also on conditions stemming from the February occupation, is facing several charges, including breaching release conditions, dangerous driving, refusal to provide a sample, assault on a peace officer and assault with a weapon.
A woman was also arrested midday on Elgin Street after an officer was assaulted.
Ignoring police direction at Elgin and Queen, a vehicle drove up on the sidewalk and was intercepted. The driver was arrested for dangerous driving and identified as someone with bail conditions not to enter Ottawa, stemming from charges received during the February occupation.
Bell said community safety remains the force’s priority.
“We will continue to keep our presence on the street,” Bell said. “We will continue to do that through tonight, through tomorrow and until the last member of these demonstrations, protests or rallies actually leaves our city streets.”
Mayor Jim Watson said he had confidence in the response to this rally, calling the police “proactive” in an interview with Radio-Canada, but he worried about Saturday night, saying that nights are harder to police as unlawful behaviour can be more common.
Compared to the weeks-long occupation that occurred with the Freedom Convoy in February, Watson said the downtown situation was more positive this weekend, although residents are tired after COVID-19, the convoy protest and now this rally.
“I can’t for the life of me figure out what their cause is this time around. Most of the mandates for vaccinations are gone, yet they’re still talking about freedom,” Watson told CBC News Network.
Police deployed for crowd control Friday
Saturday’s events come after police reported that a crowd assembled on Rideau Street on Friday evening became aggressive.
Hundreds of motorcycles drove through downtown Ottawa on Saturday. (David Fraser/CBC)
Officers were deployed with helmets and shields to help control the crowd. Seven people were arrested for various charges, including assaulting police. Some of those arrests were also for breach of undertakings, police confirmed Saturday morning.
“I’m here for the veterans,” said Sonny, a demonstrator draped in a Canadian flag at the National War Memorial. “It’s a rally. Not a protest.
“We’re going to leave right afterwards. We’re giving honour and respect back to this country.”
While many mask mandates and other COVID-19 health restrictions have been lifted, some in attendance were focused on ones that remain, including the requirement for many federal employees to be vaccinated and those for air travel.
“I still can’t get on a plane. So I still can’t travel, which is concerning because it’s a free country,” said David Paisley, who has promoted the weekend’s events through YouTube.
This is the route that the Rolling Thunder Ottawa motorcycle rally is expected to follow on Saturday, according to Ottawa police. (CBC)
While police shared the expected route for the hundreds of motorcyclists driving through downtown on Saturday, they also established a vehicle exclusion zone starting Thursday evening. Pedestrians, cyclists, public transit and other vehicles may enter the secured area, but not motorized vehicles involved in the Rolling Thunder event.
Police officers look on as motorcyclists pass by cheering protesters during Rolling Thunder, a convoy-style demonstration, in Ottawa on Saturday. (Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
Special no-parking zones are also being set up in nearby neighbourhoods. A counter-protest also gathered at the National War Memorial earlier on Saturday.
“We came here to let people know that’s a fringe. They do not represent all veterans, our nation or anything,” said Clayton Goodwin, a counter-protester and veteran. “That is a monument owned by Canada, not veterans. Not to be politicized. You tore down fences and politicized it.”
On Saturday afternoon, the City of Ottawa’s bylaw services branch posted on Twitter that it had issued 560 parking tickets, along with eight tickets for noise, smoking and encumbering the highway.
The bylaw services branch has also towed 39 vehicles.
Police tweeted that a vehicle removed by bylaw officers on Friday attempted to enter Ottawa on Saturday but was stopped, inspected and placed out of service.
Enforcement action since 7 AM Friday in regard to the demonstrations in <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/OttCity?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#OttCity</a>:<br><br>▶️560 parking tickets<br><br>▶️39 vehicles towed<br><br>▶️8 tickets for noise, smoking, encumbering highway<br><br>Officers will continue taking a zero tolerance approach to violations of our municipal by-laws. <a href=”https://t.co/SIlJuEUI3B”>pic.twitter.com/SIlJuEUI3B</a>
Before the weekend, organizers indicated they would leave after a Sunday morning church service in the Vanier neighbourhood of Ottawa, according to police.
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.
