Ottawa Police Say Planned Bike Convoy Will Be Banned From City Core

Trucks are parked on Wellington Street near the Parliament Buildings as truckers and supporters protest against COVID-19 mandates and restrictions in Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022. (Patrick Doyle/Reuters)

Ottawa Police Service (OPS) says it will prevent a motorcycle convoy dubbed Rolling Thunder from accessing the city’s downtown core.

“We will not allow for unsafe or unlawful conditions that could lead to another unlawful protest as seen in February,” says an April 25 statement from OPS, referencing the Freedom Convoy trucker protest earlier this year.

“As a result of the unlawful protest, the City of Ottawa’s position is that no motor vehicle protests, rallies or events will be allowed in the designated downtown core areas.”

The OPS also says it will receive additional resources from partner agencies including the RCMP, OPP, and municipal police services to manage the event, and that it’s taking a preemptive approach by warning organizers of potential liability and telling online commentators they will be monitored.

“Threatening or intimidating behaviours will be investigated and subject to charges where warranted,” said the OPS statement.

OPS also warns that its investigative teams, including the Hate Crime Unit, will be in place to gather evidence and lay charges.

The convoy, scheduled for April 29-30, says its goal is to “celebrate freedom,” according to a description on its private Facebook group.

Trucker protest Freedom Convoy organizer Benjamin Dichter promoted the event on Twitter and said “It’s like a charity ride except the charity is everyones [sic] Freedom.”

Partner organizations include Veterans 4 Freedom, a military veterans organization that says it’s seeking to “restore fundamental freedoms for all Canadians,” of which former Freedom Convoy spokesman Tom Marazzo is part of, and Freedom Fighters Canada, which describes itself as a non-profit demanding the end of all mandates and “tyrannical bills and legislation.”

The organizers of Rolling Thunder had been advised over the weekend that the city would not allow the event to go ahead as planned.

“We are continuing to try and work with the Ottawa Police Service and City of Ottawa to make this a safe event for both participants and citizens of Ottawa,” wrote the organizers in a statement on April 24.

“As stated in our response to the Police Liaison Officer, making wholesale changes to the agreed upon plan within 7 days of the event is most likely going to create chaos and unsafe traffic conditions for everyone.”

Military veteran and event organizer Neil Sheard said in an April 24 video that he’s been working with the city and the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) from “day one” and that an organized route had been planned, but with the city now apparently not cooperating it runs the risk of turning into a “free for all.”

The Epoch Times contacted Sheard for comment but didn’t immediately hear back.

Sheard says there was a plan for veterans that were removed from the monument by police during the Freedom Convoy protest to go to the War Memorial to lay a wreath.

According to the Veterans 4 Freedom website, that event has been dubbed “OP Dignity” and will take place on April 30 at 10 am.

“If people want to come and they want to lay a wreath at the war monument, that’s fine,” Watson told Newstalk 580 CFRA on April 22.

“They’re not going to be able to break the law like they did in the past, and they’re not going to have any access, obviously, for their motorcycles to Wellington Street. That’s blocked off and will continue to be blocked off.”

“Why waste all that money on gas, which is really expensive, to come here to drive around a couple of streets yelling ‘Freedom?’” Watson said, inviting people to instead support the “real freedom fights in Ukraine.”

Sheard says in his video that imposing a ban on vehicles just days before the planned event is a safety issue for the city and motorcyclists, and implored Mayor Jim Watson to collaborate, saying the organizers don’t have the authority to tell the riders to simply avoid Ottawa.

“Bikers do whatever they want, they’re big boys and girls,” he said.

“[The] Canadian public is coming, plain and simple, they’re coming. And they’re going to come in peace ... As far as I know, these are peace-loving people.”