Part 1: The Flatbed with the Roof Truss Sign
During the weeks Bern and Andy were in Ottawa, everything was fluid. “A few people had to leave after a while,” Bern explains, including “an older, immigrant couple who drove [as a] team and were in danger of losing their work if they didn’t go.” Mariana had a company-owned truck and she, too, left. Bern says she became a professional trucker well into her fifties, “drives by herself and loves it. She was just fearless,” he remembers. “She had spent time in a refugee camp, fleeing from one country to another, in her twenties. So she had incredible stories.”
A “Jason fellow from Saskatchewan,” joined them for a while. “He was sort of the comedian of the group, just a really funny guy. It was sad to see him leave.”
There was Sheldon, their block captain. Bern continues,
beside me was Willy and Tony. Tony had come up with his own truck, which broke down on the way, in Thunder Bay. So those two guys were together in a truck. Then we had Eric and Josh, and they were brother-in-laws. These guys are all from Manitoba.
…a while later, we had a guy join us in a tractor. He was a local farmer, from about an hour away. Behind him was Gerard [from Alberta]. He was in a big car hauler…I think Gerard ended up leaving for a couple days to go deliver a car, but he came back and parked in the same spot.
…Later on, some trades people showed up. A couple carpenters, and a brick layer. Some welders, or some guys that owned a welding shop in Manitoba. And they were a good bunch, too.
A chap named Elmer played a pivotal role. He was there in a pickup, with a cargo trailer that became a heated, sheltered space in which their block of protesters could gather.
Soon, they’d also formed relationships with local Ottawa residents. In Bern’s words,
We had a couple of Italian ladies that fed us three, four times. We're talking really good meals. They'd bring us lasagne and a Caesar salad, and the fixings…[they] were interesting because they were, I'm sort of assuming, they were fairly wealthy. They drove really nice vehicles. They were young to middle-aged women. Maybe not your normal demographic for who was supporting us. But they were from Ottawa, and just all in. And they were feisty, too. They're like, ‘If anything happens, you make sure you call us. We'll come down.’ They wanted to be in the thick of the action.
Another woman brought them turkey dinner one night, Bern remembers,
she wanted to tell us her story and she couldn't even get through it, she just broke down crying. She was, I'm assuming she was in her sixties, and her dad had early Alzheimer's, was in an assisted care home. He still knew who she was, but he couldn't wrap his head around why she wouldn't come to visit him. She wasn't allowed in…she'd gotten arrested trying to get in to him.
Bern said he now wished he’d paid closer attention in French class while at school,
We’re close to the Quebec border, right. And so we’ve had so many people come up who want to encourage us and they don’t really know English and we don’t really know French, and still the brotherhood shines through. You still communicate, you still know that you appreciate each other, and that’s enough.
Andy says the nature of their interactions with the public shifted after they’d been in Ottawa for a few days. “When we first came, we heard a lot of thank yous. ‘Thanks for coming, this is amazing.’ Now we’re hearing more: ‘Please stay. We need you here. We need you to stay.’” People were handing out their phone numbers, ‘Call me, please. Anytime you need anything.’”
Adds Bern,
I had a really touching interaction with a really nice young fella. This young dad, with two beautiful young girls who had never been in a truck before and were excited to jump up in the driver’s seat. But the guy just gave me a big ol’ hug and he wouldn’t let go of me, and he’s just whispering in my ear. He’s like, ‘You have got to stay. You’ve got to finish this. God bless you, you’ve got to stay.’
next installment: He Blessed Us With a Place to Stay
I thought the trucker protestors were amazing at the time, and they made me proud to be a Canadian, but as time passes, the significance of their uprising only becomes more dramatic. It was the beginning of the fight to maintain individual rights and freedoms.
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