City of Ottawa strikes deal with ‘Freedom Convoy’ organizers: mayor
Posted February 13, 2022 4:20 pm.
Last Updated February 14, 2022 8:04 am.
The mayor of Ottawa says the city has struck a deal with protesters who have jammed downtown streets for more than two weeks.
Mayor Jim Watson said Sunday afternoon the deal would see demonstrators move out of residential areas in the next 24 hours.
His office said Freedom Convoy organizers have agreed to the city’s demands to confine their protest activities to an area around Parliament Hill.
A letter to convoy board president Tamara Lich says Watson will agree to meet with demonstrators if trucks and other vehicles taking part in the ongoing protests are out of residential neighbourhoods by noon on Monday.
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A response from Lich indicates protesters will comply and begin moving to their new locations on Monday.
The letter says organizers will spend the next 24 hours “working hard… to get buy-in from the truckers” who flooded the capital to voice their opposition to public health measures put in place to combat COVID-19.
@CityNewsOttawa confirms Ottawa Mayor @JimWatsonOttawa has deal with convoy protest organizers to have trucks leave residential neighborhoods & limit the demonstration to Wellington and the Sir JAM Parkway.
If the trucks start moving by noon tomorrow the mayor will meet #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/4GJLbY78IW— Cormac Mac Sweeney (@cmaconthehill) February 13, 2022
Watson’s letter to protesters says residents are “exhausted” and “on edge” due to the demonstrations and warns that some businesses teetering on the brink of permanent closure because of the disruptions.
Watson’s office, in an email to councillors, said “We recognize that this is not a long-term solution to the occupation, but it represents a positive first step to lessen the impact of the convoy on the well-being of our residents.”
Sunday evening, the co-founder of the convoy took to social media to say there was no “deal” made, adding “end the mandates, end the passports.”
Prominent protester Pat King is claiming in an online video, without providing evidence, that the letter originated with counter-protesters, and he’s telling demonstrators not to move.
However, Lich said online soon after, “Plans to relocate trucks out of residential areas as agreed to will go ahead.”
After the Mayor’s office released a letter from convoy organizers which said they agreed with his offer to relieve pressure on residential neighbourhoods & focus the demonstration on Parliament Hill, lead organizers now say no deal. #cdnpoli https://t.co/Sp9aZVM3tr
— Cormac Mac Sweeney (@cmaconthehill) February 14, 2022
