Ottawa requires a political solution, not a policing solution: Truckers
Non-violent Truckers are looking for a political solution to the protests which have now spread across Canada to include Toronto, Vancouver and Quebec City. Photo: Steve Paikin
Freedom Convoy organizers have indicated they will be extending an invitation to government to engage in negotiations to end the Truckers’ convoy on February 7th.
“There is no policing resolution to this. This situation requires a political solution. The Chief of Ottawa Police cannot give us what we want,” convoy spokesperson Chris Barber stated in a press conference held February 6th shortly after Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson declared a “State of Emergency.”
“The Prime Minister of Canada, he has the power to do that. His cabinet has the power to do that. The Government of Canada has the power to end this. They need to sit down and talk with us. Tomorrow, I will make a public statement on how we believe we can come together and make that happen. Thank you.”
Full Transcript of Barber’s remarks are below:
“Good evening. Thank you to all of you who have tuned in. I just want to say shortly that I just returned from Coventry.
“Coventry, for those of you who don’t know, is one of our major locations that we have a lot of families, a lot of trucks, we have a lot of supplies. We have extremely high morale. Approximately, two hours ago, Ottawa police have showed up in in a very aggressive show of force, there was probably over 100 police officers in tactical gear with snipers on the roof.
“And I’m very pleased to report that all of our truckers, all of our families, kept their composure, it was extremely peaceful. They came in, they took the fuel, which was their intent, their intent was to come in confiscate the fuel that we have that was donated or purchased, to be distributed for the trucks.
“However, I’m pleased to say that, that has no impact on our ability to continue operations whatsoever. It was absolutely inconsequential. I would offer that I believe it was a very critical mistake on their part. It had no impact on our operations. But it certainly raised morale within the occupants, or, excuse me, the people that are at Coventry.
“I’m very, very proud of the way our truckers conducted themselves peacefully. There were two arrests for two people that failed to provide identification when asked by an officer, so they were arrested. And if that’s the worst that can happen tonight, I’m very happy with that.
“In fact, I’m very proud of the way all of our people conducted themselves. And so, we have a lot of support. So, for you tuning in at home, just known that it’s so what they took a little bit of fuel that we’re going to replace, it has no impact on what we’re doing. It’s inconsequential what they’ve done. It was a drastic show of force.
“Tomorrow, I will be making a public statement to outline what we believe to be a very measured, reasonable way forward. We believe it to be responsible, we believe it to be safe. And we would like to make that statement tomorrow to try to get interested parties to a negotiating table.
“So please tune in to that tomorrow, we’ll provide some more details. And I’d like to say something for everybody’s understanding. This is not a police solution. There is no policing resolution to this. This is a political solution. The chief of Ottawa police cannot give us what we want. The Prime Minister of Canada, he has the power to do that. His cabinet has the power to do that. The Government of Canada has the power to end this. They need to sit down and talk with us. Tomorrow, I will make a public statement on how we believe we can come together and make that happen. Thank you.
