Feds falsely accuse Truckers of ransacking building in bulletin to staff

The Canada Revenue Agency has some very nice buildings. Photo: RWN

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The Canada Revenue Agency falsely accused Freedom Convoy protesters of ransacking office buildings. The Agency yesterday would not comment after spreading fake news that angry truck drivers had run amok in downtown Ottawa. The report was among several that falsely claimed protests had turned violent.

Revenue Agency management in a bulletin to staff claimed it had “confirmation” truckers opposed to vaccine orders had begun raiding office building near the Agency’s headquarters. Truckers were believed to be looting offices and causing property damage, it said.

There were no such raids. The Ottawa Police Service confirmed it had not received any reports of looting and had not arrested any trucker for mischief, property damage, assault or other Criminal Code offence. “Police are aware many demonstrators have announced their intention to stay in place,” police said in a statement.

The Liberal MP whose riding is home to Parliament Hill yesterday told the Commons the truckers’ protest was so raucous that residents feared to leave their homes. He provided no examples.

“My community is under siege right now,” said MP Yasir Naqvi (Ottawa Centre). “For three days in a row residents are unable to sleep. They feel they have been harassed and intimidated and they have been yelled at. The front of their homes have been defecated and urinated on.”

“Please ask the protesters to leave the residential areas of my community alone,” said Naqvi. “They can make their point on Parliament Hill but let us make sure the residents who live here can live peacefully and not accept any hate.”

Reporters with The Canadian Press yesterday claimed protesters had accosted members of the public outside the Commons. “Have any of your MPs been prevented from coming in the building, accosted, threatened, had any kind of of incidents with those in the convoy? We’ve heard of others,” a reporter yesterday asked Government House Leader Mark Holland.

“MPs I’ve spoke to have been able to access Parliament,” replied Holland, adding: “I came in this morning without any problems.”

“How long should authorities give these folks to take up the precinct as they are now?” asked a reporter. “We’re all fed up with this,” replied Holland.

Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis (Haldimand-Norfolk, Ont.) accused critics of the Freedom Convoy of a double standard. “We recognize the need to prevent protesters from interrupting and blocking critical care facilities like hospitals but not railroads,” said Lewis.

VIA Rail in 2020 blamed Wet’suwet’en First Nation rail blockades in part for a $33.6 million loss in the first quarter of the year. Sympathy blockades by the Mohawk Nation saw Indigenous Services Minister Marc Miller meet personally with protesters near Belleville, Ont.

“We show up at protest and take a knee but hide from 100,000 truckers and citizens who are rallying for democracy,” said MP Lewis, referring to Black Lives Matter protests on Parliament Hill. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on June 5, 2020 joined demonstrators in kneeling outside Parliament.

“I am very concerned that one of the biggest challenges facing our future will be the restoration of public confidence in institutions such as the media and government,” MP Lewis told the Commons. Parliament was “is in danger of losing its capacity to deal with national issues,” she added.

By Staff

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Blacklock’s Tom Korski talks to Alex Pierson about this topic here.