{"id":80627,"date":"2022-02-07T15:40:43","date_gmt":"2022-02-07T20:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/?p=80627"},"modified":"2022-02-07T15:56:36","modified_gmt":"2022-02-07T20:56:36","slug":"truckers-respond-to-allegations-of-racism-hate-crimes-as-protests-continue-into-second-week","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/truckers-respond-to-allegations-of-racism-hate-crimes-as-protests-continue-into-second-week\/","title":{"rendered":"Truckers respond to allegations of racism, hate-crimes as protests continue into second week"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: Some of the sources in this article have requested to remain anonymous. CHUO has omitted their names.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The second week of protests has heightened tensions between the city\u2019s residents and demonstrators demanding an end to vaccine mandates.<\/span><\/p>\n

The \u201cFreedom Convoy\u201d was joined over the weekend by thousands of protesters for the second week in a row as Ottawa continues to be occupied by hundreds of heavy trucks, and people on both sides of the conflict grow angrier.<\/span><\/p>\n

CHUO was present in the downtown core over the weekend to speak with demonstrators.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tracy Bryant, who told CHUO she was in Ottawa to represent a group from BC called <\/span>Take Action Kamloops<\/span><\/a>, says she was coerced into taking the vaccine, which has had a negative affect on her health.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got my second vaccine, it affected my eyesight, and I now have blurry vision,\u201d says Bryant. \u201cI couldn't move my arm for three days, and my face was all messed up. That went away, thank God, but my eyesight\u2026never did.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Bryant says she went to see a doctor about her symptoms, but was told the vaccine hadn\u2019t caused the negative side-effects.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe's like, \u2018Oh, no, no, it's from something else,\u2019\u201d says Bryant. \u201cI'm like, \u2018No, it's not.\u2019 It happened three days after my vaccine.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)<\/span><\/a> says that rare side-effects from mRNA vaccines, including approved COVID-19 vaccines, may include facial paralysis or an allergic reaction. Although vision loss isn\u2019t listed as a possible side-effect of the vaccine, PHAC says it continues to monitor newly reported side-effects.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The <\/span>Ottawa Police Service reported<\/span><\/a> on Sunday that since the protests began, they have received over 650 calls for service relating to the demonstration, and are investigating over 97 criminal offences, 11 of which were hate crimes. The OPS\u2019 hate-motivated crime hotline has also received over 200 calls.<\/span><\/p>\n

Bryant says she, like \u201cthe majority of protestors,\u201d doesn\u2019t support the acts of hatred carried out by members of the convoy.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt's unbelievable, saying that [we\u2019re] white supremacists and racist\u2014that's not what's going on here,\u201d says Bryant. \u201cNot at all. I'm just a single mom and came up here to support this convoy and to help end these mandates.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Ottawa Police reported roughly 200 anti-convoy counter protesters were in the downtown core on Saturday. Anti-convoy groups have popped up on social<\/span><\/p>\n

\"A

Demonstrators set up a makeshift stage at the intersection of Bank and Wellington, where they are hosting performances from members of the convoy. Photo by Meara Belanger<\/p><\/div>\n

media, such as Facebook group \u201c<\/span>Stop the Ottawa Occupation 2022<\/span><\/a>\u201d which now has over 2,300 members.<\/span><\/p>\n

A group on Instagram, called <\/span>Ottawa Convoy Report<\/span><\/a>, has committed to documenting incidents of violence, harassment, aggression, and hate crimes carried out by demonstrators.<\/span><\/p>\n

Countless residents, along with city councillors, the mayor, and police chief Peter Sloly, have condemned the demonstrators. Others, including residents and members of the police service, have joined the demonstrations, fuelling increasing tensions between factions.<\/span><\/p>\n

One demonstrator, who came from Prince Edward Island, told CHUO that he isn\u2019t anti-vaccine\u2014just anti-mandate.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMy kids aren't getting the vaccine,\u201d he says.\u201cThey can later on in life. I'm not anti-vax. I'm not against it all, if you want to get one fine.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The man says he is trying to broadcast as much as possible, to counter the negative attention the protest has received from local media and politicians. He says he has a message for frustrated residents, who want to see the demonstrations end.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe're here for them as well,\u201d he says.\u201cWe're not against them. We respect their decision. We're not here to disturb them at all.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Ottawa Police <\/span>say they have given Special Constable status<\/span><\/a> to 257 RCMP officers who have joined mitigation efforts. They say they have deployed \u201cnegotiators\u201d who have managed to reach a compromise with truckers regarding noise, specifically honking.<\/span><\/p>\n

According to a <\/span>press release<\/span><\/a> from the Freedom Convoy themselves, a cessation of honking occurred from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, \u201cout of respect for the Lord\u2019s Day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOut of respect for the Lord's Day, for members of our military who have sacrificed and who continue to sacrifice so much for our freedom, for the men and women in blue who are doing such a superb job protecting us, and as a gesture of goodwill, members of our Convoy will desist from the blowing of Horns tomorrow, Sunday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Ottawa time.\"<\/span><\/p>\n

Some protestors, including Bryant, also told CHUO that convoy organizers had asked all vehicles to cease honking overnight so residents could sleep, although <\/span>live coverage of the protest<\/span><\/a> from Saturday night reveals otherwise.<\/span><\/p>\n

Listen to the CHUO story below:<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note: Some of the sources in this article have requested to remain anonymous. CHUO has omitted their names. The second week of protests has heightened tensions between the city\u2019s residents and demonstrators demanding an end to vaccine mandates. The \u201cFreedom Convoy\u201d was joined over the weekend by thousands of protesters for the second week in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":80631,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[57,218,225],"tags":[12395,11588,284,12254,6476,12397,6725,1177,12394,10713,12398,708,525,12396,12263,9616],"radio":[1290],"origine":[267,269,1571],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80627"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/110"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=80627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/80627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80631"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=80627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=80627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=80627"},{"taxonomy":"radio","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/radio?post=80627"},{"taxonomy":"origine","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canada-info.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/origine?post=80627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}