“It is a complete shit show,” said University of Ottawa student Sara Raj Singh who lives in downtown Ottawa.
People that Humber News spoke with who live in Ottawa’s downtown core say the situation with the ongoing protest is pushing them to the limit.
After more than a week the nation’s capital continues to be filled with truckers protesting against vaccine mandates, which has now resulted in a state of emergency being declared in the city of Ottawa by the Mayor, Jim Watson.
University of Toronto Professor Jeffrey Reitz told Humber News the point of the protest is not clear.
“My question for those folks is: What is their answer to the pandemic? I mean we have people dying, we have people who have been suffering from illness and people who are exposed,” said Reitz.
A class-action lawsuit that had been proposed to the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on behalf of the residents of Ottawa won an interim injunction for 10 days, prohibiting protesters from using vehicle horns in downtown Ottawa.
“Tooting a horn is not an expression of any great thought I’m aware of,” said Justice Hugh McLean during the hearing on Monday in Ottawa. He also added that taking away their horns does not rob them of their right to protest.
The injunction now grants the police the authority to arrest and remove anyone not following the order. The police, however, can also release the person arrested if they agree in writing to obey the order.
“The ruling that was passed yesterday has helped with the honking situation, that’s what I feel,” said Singh. Twenty-two arrests and more than 1,300 tickets have been issued by Ottawa police and there are 79 ongoing criminal offences.
Even with the injunction, downtown residents that Humber News spoke with continue to feel unsafe with the situation.
“It is very difficult to be able to walk around like this, because you never know when people might just attack you for protecting yourself for wearing a mask something that you are doing for yourself, for your own security,” said Singh.
Rajpal had a much closer and more intense encounter with some intoxicated protesters.
“While coming back from work, some protesters who were drunk tried to push me just for fun and kept telling me that I don’t need to wear a mask,” said Rajpal.
“One of them even tried to snatch the mask off my face,” he said.
Reitz told Humber News on Wednesday that the protests initially did not have a racist motive but have now attracted groups pushing the demonstrations in that direction.
“I doubt that the initial motive was a racist agenda but, you can see for example Donald Trump in the United States and other Americans have been drawn in by this,” said Reitz.
“Trump himself seems to have regarded the truckers as all the same issues that he put forward as president.”
With the authorities constantly patrolling the streets, residents Humber News spoke with felt that the situation is not getting any better.
“My place of work is on that street and has been closed for 10 days and they are not opening anytime soon to ensure the safety of their employees,” said Rajpal.
“It is not getting any better. In fact, today when I had to take a cab to my friend’s place my cab driver who has been driving around a lot said that it is getting worse in fact, there are more people here now than there were a week ago,” said Singh.