An Ottawa native living across the border now fears legal repercussions after reporting online threats from convoy supporters.

Born and raised in Ottawa, Julie-Ann Pauline moved to Niagara Falls, New York in 2019, after marrying her American husband. She returned to see family and friends last week, a visit she had been planning for over a month.

CHUO spoke with Pauline, who is now back at her home in NY, on Sunday.

“When I left Ottawa, I thought I was going to be able to come back and forth as much as I wanted, and then the borders closed for the pandemic,” says Pauline. “I've been so cut off for so long. And, finally, I'm starting to be able to come back and see my friends and family more and more.”

Pauline, who had been following Ottawa news concerning the ongoing occupation, says she tuned into last Monday’s city council meeting for more information. Finding herself impressed with the measures that came from the meeting, Pauline took to social media to voice her approval. 

In a comment on a City of Ottawa Facebook post updating the public on new measures against the convoy, Pauline said she was, “grateful for the hard work that’s been put in.” She received several negative responses from what appeared to be convoy supporters. 

Pauline received responses to her post that she felt were threatening. Photo by Julie-Ann Pauline.

It wasn’t until someone left a comment threatening to find her location and “park on your front lawn for a week with air horns blowing” that Pauline started to fear for her personal safety.

“The thing about looking up my address really freaked me out,” says Pauline. “Because the week prior, I had shared a picture of my house in Niagara Falls with a Canada flag and American flag on my porch.”

Pauline decided to disengage, turning off notifications and changing her privacy settings to “friends only.”

After arriving in Ottawa on Wednesday, Pauline was notified by several of her friends that someone was pretending to be her, sending messages via Facebook using a fake profile. One of the messages asked a friend of Pauline to purchase them a Steam gift card.

Pauline says she also received fraudulent friend requests from two accounts pretending to be someone she knew from church. 

“And I'm like, ‘Alright, so now they're trying to hack people,’” says Pauline. “This feels targeted.”

Pauline proceeded to contact the Ottawa Police Service’s non-emergency line. She was greeted by an automated message which informed her she would hear back within 24 hours.

“I said I was getting online threats and I wasn't sure how to go about reporting it, please call me back,” says Pauline. “I was like, ‘I'm a former resident of Ottawa currently in the city.’ I gave my current name and my maiden name, and I gave my phone number. This was on Wednesday. They've never called me back.”

Pauline says she is now fearful she will face legal repercussions for reporting the threats, since she made the call to Ottawa Police from a NY area code. 

On Thursday, Ottawa Police stated via Twitter that they “are aware of a concerted effort to flood our 911 and non-emergency policing reporting line.” The tweet added that scam calls would be traced and perpetrators would be criminally charged.

Pauline, whose green card status is up for renewal in the coming months, is afraid the consequences of being lumped in with unlawful protests will damage her immigration process.

“Now I'm worried…that I've just been put in a pile of these other people they're going to go after for false reporting charges,” says Pauline. “Which would be really bad if that comes back to bite me later.”

The Ottawa Police have stated that they have so far received over 1,000 reports of criminal activity associated with the convoy, and they are pursuing each one.

CHUO reached out to the Ottawa Police, but they did not respond before this story went to air.

Pauline, who drives with American plates, says she is hesitant to return again after experiencing hostility from fellow drivers who assumed she belonged to the occupation.

“I was getting tailgated,” says Pauline. “People were aggressively swerving and changing lanes around me. I got flipped off. People were yelling at me at red lights. I had to be so on guard when I was driving.”

As a resident of Canada’s capital for 26 years, Pauline says she has, “never seen something like this.” She understands the frustrations of Ottawa residents, but is also fearful that the occupation has permanently scarred a once welcoming city.

“The pandemic is winding down, but I still feel like now there's this new barrier,” says Pauline. “Because now Ottawans have a distrust of outsiders. And suddenly, I'm an outsider, even though I'm not.”

The Ottawa Police said over the weekend that they continue, “planning with all levels of government to bring an end to the current occupation.”

Listen to the CHUO story below: