LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION!: Justice Centre demands Ottawa turn on their CCTV

The Justice Centre said it was told during the first few days of the truckers’ protest in Ottawa closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras were offline entirely and remain off.

“These cameras do not actually show what is happening on the ground in downtown Ottawa. For safety reasons we strongly urge you to remedy this situation and restore live feed from those CCTV cameras. It is imperative that law enforcement and the public have access to video footage, in order to know what is actually occurring in and around the protest,” said JCCF lawyer Eva Chipiuk.

“Canadians have the legal right to protest peacefully in their capital city. The freedom of peaceful assembly is expressly protected by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Freedom Convoy has always been clear that it supports only peaceful assembly.”

The Freedom Convoy has expressed concerns there may be individuals or groups that may instigate conflict or engage in illegal behaviour in order to undermine the protest.

When receiving information that relates to public safety concerns, the Freedom Convoy said they immediately inform the respective police services to guarantee the safety of the truckers, members of the public and first responders.

“We are aware of media reports about people associated with the Freedom Convoy being arrested and charged. These were agitators not affiliated with us. Offenses related to property damage and an alleged assault were witnessed by a trucker and one of our volunteer security personnel, who reported this to the Ottawa Police Service,” said retired RCMP officer Danny Bulford, who is working with the JCCF.

“What I have seen with my own eyes [is] …  truckers and supporters of the movement feeding the homeless for free, right on Wellington Street and filling their backpacks. Truckers taking a whole trailer full of food down to the homeless shelter. Maintaining cleanliness of city streets, including picking up discarded masks all over the ground that we’ve come to see. Centralized garbage collection, shoveling snow at the War Memorial and the Terry Fox statue, decorating those two locations, and providing security for those two locations.

“I’ve even seen people have tents set up right by Terry Fox in order to protect that statue and I expect that level of commitment to the City of Ottawa and respecting our traditions in this country is just getting started.”