‘Freedom Convoy’ protesters voted The Canadian Press Newsmaker of the Year
OTTAWA — They came to Ottawa in their thousands with varied goals and grievances, but united in their disenfranchisement with the liberal federal government and COVID-19 health restrictions.
OTTAWA — They came to Ottawa in their thousands with varied goals and grievances, but united in their disenfranchisement with the liberal federal government and COVID-19 health restrictions.
Forming the self-proclaimed “Freedom Convoy” and similar demonstrations across the country, the protesters blocked the capital’s streets and international border crossings, marking a new form of protest in Ottawa.
The group, which Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described as a “marginal minority,” was voted “Canadian Press Newsmaker of the Year” by editors in newsrooms across Canada.
The convoy quickly picked up speed in early 2022, raising support and donations from across the country.
“As the ‘Freedom Convoy’ rolled east and crowdfunding support swelled into the millions, it became clear that these protesters would both bark and bite,” wrote Dawn Walton, CTV Calgary editor-in-chief, in her response to the poll.
One of the organizers, Tamara Lich, told a small group of reporters during the first week of the protest that the protesters were there “for love” of their families, communities and country.
The joyous, celebratory nature of the week-long demonstration ran counter to what Ottawa police and local politicians described as a lawless and dangerous occupation of the city.
Drivers in big-truck trucks honked their horns almost continuously at all hours of the day until a court order forced them to stop. The stench of diesel exhaust and smoke hung in the air, and some Ottawa residents described feeling trapped in their homes and afraid to venture into the unruly and unpredictable crowds.
Some of those gathering in Ottawa described feeling hurt by two years of pandemic restrictions and said they wanted their concerns heard by the federal government.
“We felt like we were really alone for a long time,” Maggie Hope Braun, a protester from Peterborough, Ontario, told a federal investigation months later.
Others appeared angry at the Prime Minister and his government, as evidenced by hundreds of flags with explosive devices pointed at Trudeau.
Some called for an end to COVID-19 vaccine mandates, while others called for the elected government to be overthrown.
“The self-proclaimed ‘Freedom Convoy’ protesters may have had their goals unclear and ill-informed how to pursue them, but they reflect a schism in our society that is being ignored at our peril,” wrote program director Murray Wood at 980 CJME in Regina.
The protests lasted so long that on February 14, Trudeau declared a public order emergency and invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time since it replaced the War Measures Act in 1988.
“Rarely has an act of protest been followed up so dramatically by the highest levels of power in Canada,” Walton wrote.
While protesters insist their blockades were peaceful and non-violent, police discovered a cache of weapons at the border blockade in the small town of Coutts, Alta. before this protest broke up.
RCMP claimed the group was gearing up for a potential standoff with police.
“The ‘Freedom Convoy’ protests drew international attention to Canada, forcing the country to contend with an angry, conspiratorial wave of populists,” wrote Marco Vigliotti, city editor of Ottawa Citizen and the Ottawa Sun.
As it became clear that police were planning a large-scale operation to remove protesters in Ottawa using the new extraordinary powers granted under the Emergency Act, people continued to travel to the city to join in.
“I felt that not only as a veteran, but as a badly wounded veteran, I needed to be there to protect the Canadian people from what could possibly happen,” protester Chris Deering told the federal investigation into the Emergency Act this fall.
Hundreds of protesters were arrested as police launched a massive operation in downtown Ottawa.
Several organizers and protesters are expected to face trial on various charges over the next year.
“Love ’em or hate ’em, the convoy protesters impacted the daily lives of most Canadians in 2022 and showed the fractures in our country,” wrote Tim Switzer, editor-in-chief of the Regina Leader-Post.
49 percent of the 104 pollsters voted for the protesters to be the newsmaker of the year, ahead of 28 percent for Queen Elizabeth II, who died in September.
On Monday, The Canadian Press announced that the Freedom Convoy protest itself had also been voted top news of the year.
This report from The Canadian Press was first published on December 20, 2022.
Laura Osman, The Canadian Press
