Winnipeg has fared ‘better than any other city’ with truck protest: police

Though protesters supporting the so-called “Freedom Convoy” in Ottawa continue to make their presence known outside of the Manitoba Legislature, Winnipeg police say the local rally has been relatively incident-free.

“I think Winnipeg has fared probably better than any other city in terms of our dealing with the convoy,” Const. Rob Carver told 680 CJOB, citing a good dialogue between police and protesters as one reason there have been few incidents.

Carver said that while the group’s numbers grew over the weekend, the atmosphere outside the legislative grounds has, generally, been a peaceful one — notwithstanding an incident Friday when a driver struck four protesters with his vehicle.

“We were able to develop a relationship early, and as such, it’s gone quite smooth,” he said. “We haven’t had the same sort of problems that other cities have had.

“We want to make sure that everyone there is safe, and that they’re conducting themselves in a way that really impacts minimally on the people.”

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“We understand it’s difficult for people in the area, but we’ve had less noise issues (than other cities), very little in the way of confrontation.”

Carver said police have received noise complaints, but they’re few and far between, and that for the most part, the protesters appear to be willing to stop honking their horns overnight.

A statement from Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman said he’s been contacted by residents about the noise.

“The mayor has heard from downtown residents and shares their concern about the disruptions to date, including noise,” Bowman said.

“While police have indicated they are working with the organizers, Winnipeggers expect that laws will be enforced.”

No criminal charges have been filed in connection with the protest, aside from the incident in which a vehicle drove into the crowd.

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The driver, 42-year-old David Zegarac, is facing 11 charges as a result. Carver said he was unable to speak to the man’s motive, other than it didn’t appear to be related to a position on COVID-19 vaccines.

“Obviously, it was related to the demonstration in some sense — he was there with some purpose,” he said.

“But it wasn’t one side or the other — he wasn’t pro-mandate or anti-mandate, pro-vax or anti-vax. We know he made some comments to officers that eluded to some other issues that really weren’t part of that.”

1:08 Protesters feeling sense of “community spirit”

Ottawa criminology professor Michael Kempa told Global News that Winnipeg has been able to learn from what city officials saw at the larger protest in the nation’s capital.

“Winnipeg — and other places that had the advantage of seeing how things went in Ottawa a little bit first — realized what they were dealing with, and they rendered it much more difficult for trucks to stop and embed and shut down the downtown core,” he said.

Kempa said the larger a protest gets, the more difficult it will likely be for police to continue their hands-off approach.

“Where the protest gets larger and larger, obviously so-called organizers have a lesser and lesser degree of control over what ‘their’ so-called protesters are doing. So if you have people being harassed in the streets … obviously the police cannot turn a blind eye to this. It’s essentially a form of terror on citizens in the streets.

“If the protest is concentrated in an area around political power and it’s an expression of ideas, it’s to a greater extent legitimate, and police are much harder-pressed to crack down on it.”

Manitoba justice minister Kelvin Goertzen told Global News that he didn’t want to speculate on what could happen with a prolonged protest, and said the discussion between police and demonstrators seems to be working so far to keep disruptions at a minimum — although he admitted noise is a concern if it affects area residents’ ability to go about their day.

Other local politicians, however, are calling for swifter action in dealing with the protesters.

In an open letter Monday, elected representatives of all three levels of government — NDP MP Leah Gazan, NDP MLA Uzoma Asagwara, and city councillor Sherri Rollins — expressed their concerns with the impact on the community.

“Area residents have been subjected to incessant noise due to honking and other blaring sounds from those gathered in proximity to the Manitoba Legislature with trucks and vehicles,” the letter said.

“As elected officials for the area, we have heard several reports about how this noise is having negative impacts on residents’ mental, physical and emotional health.

“This noise has been measured by some residents to be well above permissible levels resulting in several days of increased anxiety, no sleep, and frustration. We are deeply concerned. This is unacceptable.”

The letter also cited reports of targeted racist, homophobic, and gender-based harassment in the city’s downtown during the protest.

“Our downtown community is diverse, dynamic and incredibly caring. People make a point of looking after their neighbours and take pride in building communities which create space for people of all identities and experiences.

“As downtown political representatives we must underline the public safety failures of laws that are not being respected and not recognizing the impacts of their actions on those living in close proximity.

“Area residents have the right to live in their homes without being harmed, or to go get groceries without the fear of being targeted.”

3:51 Trucker protests: Man arrested after 4 injured during protest near Manitoba legislature