The Ottawa Police Service yesterday said it identified the woman who jumped on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier during Freedom Convoy protests, but dismissed the case as insignificant as the woman “was not from Western Canada and had nothing to do with the convoy.”.“The woman is from Québec,” said Carole Macpherson, a spokesperson for the police service. “There was no admitted association to the Freedom Convoy truckers.”.According to Blacklock’s Reporter, police in a statement said the woman would not be charged, through her antics that prompted House of Commons committee hearings. “She was spoken to, showed remorse for her actions and police are confident she will not re-offend,” wrote staff. Police would not identify the woman..A January 29 Twitter video captured the young woman in a parka standing atop the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier yelling, “Freedom.” Ottawa police on February 2 issued a public bulletin seeking information leading to the woman’s arrest..Veterans Affairs Minister Lawrence MacAulay led MPs and commentators in blaming the Freedom Convoy. “Everyone has a right to protest in this country, but this disrespect shown to the National War Memorial, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and the National Aboriginal Veterans Monument was completely disgusting,” MacAulay testified on February 1 at the Veterans Affairs Committee..“To see that from the protesters was shocking, disgusting and a slap in the face to every Canadian veteran,” MacAulay.said. “I hope we never, ever see anything like that again in this country.”.Liberal MPs in the Commons also blamed the Freedom Convoy for the incident they called “disturbing,” “disgraceful,” “jarring” and “very, very difficult to watch.” New Democrat MP Charlie Angus (Timmins-James Bay, Ont.) on February 2 told the House of Commons: “Conservatives stood by as people came here and desecrated the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.”.The media also blamed the Freedom Convoy. Readers were told convoy members “danced on the Tomb” (Halifax Chronicle-Herald), “desecrated the Tomb” (Ottawa Citizen) and were “caught on camera dancing on the Tomb” (CBC News). “There were reports of protesters urinating on the Tomb,” the Globe & Mail told readers on February 12..The Tomb woman was among 15,000 people near Parliament Hill that day. Of people arrested that weekend in Ottawa, none were Freedom Convoy members, according to police records..Liberal MPs on the veterans committee sponsored a motion to investigate “the shameful and disrespectful behaviour shown by protestors at the National War Memorial.” The committee dropped its investigation March 9 with a recommendation that “the committee call upon law enforcement to continue their investigations.”.Matthew Horwood is the Parliamentary Bureau Chief of the Western Standard.mhorwood@westernstandard.news.Twitter.com/@Matt_HorwoodWS
