The Continuous Honking Myth
The Continuous Honking Myth
No, the truckers didn't honk for 24 days straight.
Yesterday, I observed that some of the public commentary in an Emergencies Act inquiry summary seems disconnected from reality. One of the most irritating examples appears on page 10, where we read that:
Continuous honking and other auditory events were tortuous
But the honking was not continuous. Those who say this are profoundly distorting what happened during the trucker protest.
The honking may have seemed continuous for the first 72 hours. During those first few heady days, the Ottawa protest was definitely noisy. Some of these truckers had spent days behind the wheel, driving thousands of miles through winter weather. By the time they finally reached the nation’s capital you bet they were loud. These people felt unheard. These people were protesting.
I’ve mentioned previously that a few months prior to the convoy, the leaders of all five of Canada’s political parties recorded a video that made it clear to Canadians with alternative vaccine views they were on their own - they’d been consigned to lives of taxation without representation.
When you ignore people, they will raise their voice. When you continue to ignore them, they will honk their horns long and loud.
After a few days in Ottawa, many of the truckers themselves became tired of the horns. Out of respect for Ottawa residents they soon voluntarily restricted the honking for approximately half of every 24 hours - from early evening until morning. By the time I arrived in Ottawa on February 7th, a court injunction had banned honking altogether.
When people talk about continuous honking they are, therefore, pretending the voluntary restraint exhibited by the truckers and the widespread compliance with the court order never happened.
Did individual truckers still allow kids to reach in and blow their horns? Yes, they did. Did individual truckers who were moving their rigs from one part of the city to another - or departing altogether - blow their horns? Yes, they did.
As cross-border trucker Brigitte Belton pointed out during her testimony before the Emergencies Act inquiry, there’s something called a Schedule 1 in Ontario. It’s a lengthy checklist, a daily safety inspection truckers are legally obligated to perform. Item 16 on that list: the driver must confirm the vehicle has an “operative horn.” This is accomplished by blowing said horn.
It’s also worth remembering the protest took place during a time of year in which most people keep their windows and doors firmly closed. Many hesitate to venture outdoors in Ottawa in February due to bitter winds, severe temperatures, and the risks associated with icy sidewalks. If one wanted to minimize the disruption to the lives of the residents of that city, the timing could not have been better.
In sum, therefore, a small part of downtown Ottawa heard an unusual number of horns during the 24-day trucker protest. But those who say the horns were continuous are not telling the truth.
