Alayne McGregor
Local community activists have decided to run their own independent examination of last winter’s convoy occupation.
Starting this fall, the Ottawa People’s Commission (opc-cpo.ca) will hold public hearings in which those affected by the occupation will be invited to describe their experiences and concerns. The hearings are designed to “begin building trust and accountability in a traumatized community.”
The three commissioners – lawyer Leilani Farha, director of housing rights group The Shift; human rights lawyer Alex Neve; and Debbie Owusu-Akyeeah, the executive director of the Canadian Centre for Sexual and Gender Diversity – hope to deliver their final report next February.
The commission is the brainchild of resident Ken Rubin. Rubin said that other current federal and city reviews were “barely scratching the surface of the dangerous, undemocratic, and hurtful occupation. I’ve never seen this level of trauma in a community.”
He said it would listen to residents, business owners, workers, and organizations “whose lives were turned upside down” and were subject to insults and torture-level loud noise. It will also examine what failed to happen that might have ended the occupation sooner, and how to prevent it happening again.
“It was such a dramatic event – and it still isn’t over.” He said that the commission would also hear how residents are being affected by the repeated reappearances of convoy protesters.
The commission will be supported by the Centretown Community Health Centre, an agency whose work was disrupted by the illegal occupation protesting vaccine mandates and the Trudeau government. The centre is accepting donations to support the commission’s work, which Rubin estimates may cost up to $250,000.
This summer, the city Auditor-General also held public hearings into the occupation, as part of her investigation on behalf of the city and the police service.
The two A-G sessions did hear from local residents and agencies about their harrowing experiences, but almost half of the speakers defended the convoy occupation. Those speakers were almost all from outside Centretown.
The convoy returns, and returns…
