Another Convoy in Ottawa, Canada

[Mark in Ottawa]

Many of you will recall the convoy of truckers who took over downtown Ottawa last February to protest having to wear masks when crossing the US -Canada border. That only ended when the Government invoked Part 2 of the Emergencies Act (public order emergency) and got the police to clear them out and tow away the trucks. Amazingly, they did that in steps with virtually no violence and only a few arrests.

Some time this afternoon, there is going to be a sort of instant replay but this time with about 1,000 motorcyclists descending on Ottawa. This time we have a new acting police chief who is actually taking things seriously and planning ahead. The downtown core is being closed off to vehicular traffic and the city is deputizing 800 members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to help (the RCMP is a federal police force and normally does not have local jurisdiction). the bikers have been told that they are welcome to walk in the restricted area and can protest to their heart's content but that inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated. Last time some of the inappropriate behaviour included some scum who urinated on the national war memorial and danced on the tomb of the unknown soldier (seriously).

Ottawa has always been viewed as a quiet boring town filled with well behaved bureaucrats but apparently not any more.

[togor]

Put "One Tin Soldier" by The Original Caste, the Canadian version, looped on a PA system until they go home.

[barretcreek]

So were the people desecrating the memorials truckers or counter protesters?

[togor]

So were the people desecrating the memorials truckers or counter protesters?

Truckers and their hangers-on.

Probably a lot of Labatts in that pee.

[Mark in Ottawa]

So were the people desecrating the memorials truckers or counter protesters?

A story in today's Ottawa Citizen newspaper says that the woman who danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is not going to be charged since the police have "talked" to her and she has shown remorse for her actions. I am outraged. I am pretty sure that her remorse derives from the possibility of getting jail time and a criminal record and not from her actions. I wouldn't advocate a long prison sentence but 30 days in the jug would teach her a lesson and act as a deterrent to others

So far the current demonstration has resulted in about 7 arrests, several of which are apparently for breach of bail conditions from the February truckers demonstration. A condition of their release then was that they had to keep out of Ottawa. You really have to be pretty dumb to breach a simple condition of that sort.

[dryheat]

Truckers, bikers, any other Bozos come to mind?

[Mark in Ottawa]

The bikers protest ended with the bikers holding a church service today and then leaving town. End result was 10 people arrested; 45 vehicles towed and almost 900 parking tickets issued. I think that there were more police on hand than bikers this time. Nobody was prepared to accept a repeat of the truckers protest in February when they occupied the centre of the city for three weeks

One really big issue is that nobody seems to know what they were protesting about. Some of them said that they were here to free up the war memorial and to protest the treatment of veterans. All very odd as the national war memorial is in a sort of traffic island at a T intersection near Parliament Hill and is accessible any time that there is a green traffic light. Veterans are treated pretty well but clearly there is room for improvement but nobody seems to have actually voiced a specific complaint.

I am starting to think that it was all a fun ride for a lot of bikers.

[dryheat]

There was a memorial and that's all the attention it needs. These things come and go. Smart truckers keep driving. I went to one protest in my life. It was when I was retired. I'm still retired. It was Bozos. One was enough for me. The retards get some kind of compensation. In a way it's patriotic; someone was willing to pay morons to get on a bus and protest something. I'm not talking about people who are capable of driving trucks or bikes. The protesters I saw were mentally deficient and someone had the heart to round them up and give them a bus ride. What a country. Except for the part about messing with the flag. Hey, I am an old guy. For my only protest, I have good memories of it. It was America right there. Our local weatherman was running for a fairly big office. The usual. I wonder what he's doing these days.