Publication date: Nov 05, 2022 • 36 minutes ago • 3 minutes to read • Join the discussion Jim Pott, minister of Knox Presbyterian Church spoke to the Ottawa People’s Committee about his experience during the “Freedom Accord” demonstration. Photo by Ashley Fraser /Postmedia

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If one thing is clear from the Ottawa People’s Committee on Occupy Convoy, it’s that many residents are still angry and concerned, and some are still hurting, about the Freedom Convoy’s takeover of the downtown core in last winter

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On Saturday, the commission held its seventh public hearing and third in-person since hosting its first just six weeks ago. Five speakers spoke at the Jack Purcell Community Centre, where about 30 people gathered to watch and listen. The hearing, hosted by commissioners Alex Neve, assistant professor of international human rights at uOttawa and Dalhousie University, and author and human rights activist Monia Mazigh, will be streamed on the commission’s YouTube channel next week. Sign up to receive daily news headlines from the Ottawa Citizen, a division of Postmedia Network Inc. By clicking the subscribe button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc. | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300

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The OPC hearings, Neve noted, are important because they provide a platform for community-level testimony, the lack of which has been among the criticisms of the federal Public Order Emergency Committee hearings being held at the same time.

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That federal hearing, known as the Rouleau Commission, has heard from an “amazing” number of organizers and convoy leaders, without giving comparable time to affected residents, Neve said.
Among Saturday’s speakers was Jim Pott, pastor at Knox Presbyterian Church on Elgin Street, who said protesters urinated on the church and aggressively harassed him and church volunteers nearby, forcing the church to cancel its meal plan for the residents of the center who were in need. Pott recalled one protester, responding to the church’s decision to hold services only online, yelling at him, “You should obey God instead of punishing Trudeau.” “It was ironic,” Pott noted Saturday, “that these people were the reason we delayed in-person gatherings.”

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Fareed Kahn also spoke at the Ottawa People’s Committee. Photo by Ashley Fraser /Postmedia Fareed Khan, founder of Canadians United Against Hate, also spoke on Saturday, comparing the protesters to children who explode when they don’t get their way. “But it was worse,” he added, “because by venting their anger, they violated people’s rights not only in this city, but across the country.” Khan’s testimony drew applause from audience members when he criticized Tory MPs, specifically naming former interim leader Candice Bergen and current leader Pierre Poilievre, saying their support for the convoy constituted an act of sedition under the Criminal Code of Canada . “Most egregiously, elected members of the Conservative Party have chosen to stand by and support an illegal protest led by people who have no regard for anyone’s rights or freedoms but their own, who have committed crimes under the Criminal Code, people who have not yet been held accountable.”

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Hahn also criticized convoy organizers’ inaction against participants who displayed visible signs of hate, including the swastika, the Confederate flag and anti-LGBTQ messages. Throughout Saturday’s two-hour hearing, speakers echoed concerns and sentiments shared by many other residents since the convoy rolled in, including fears and concerns about the lawlessness of protesters, open fire and tear gas. , the incessant horns that sounded like war. harassment, having to pack up and move away from the core, and police and political inaction, or worse, possible complicity. A speaker, who identified herself only as Dawn, said the decision to come forward and testify Saturday was a traumatic but important decision.

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“The reason I’m here is to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said Andrea Harden, a self-described social movement organizer — and sister of Ottawa Center MPP Joel Harden — also spoke, describing her involvement in the Battle of Billings Bridge, in which residents stood up to block trucks heading downtown from their location at RCGT Park. “It was not a planned event,” he said of the counter-protest. “There was no organizer. These were people who showed up when we were at a tipping point with the lack of action by the government, the lack of action and the complicity of the police in all of this, that we were taking a stand and saying enough is enough, and I really feel like that was the domino that knocked the everything that led to the end of this occupation. “People were scared, and rightfully so, of living downtown and being harassed just for walking around and wearing a mask.” Four more hearings, all online, are scheduled for later this month, with one in person scheduled for December. Visit opc-cpo for more information. [email protected]

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