It's Just Wrong

Government-funded journalists, a government-funded soup kitchen, and an ugly smear against the truckers.

Part 1: I Came Together with the People

Soon after arriving in Ottawa, trucker Luis was inundated with food from supporters on the street. "They give you cookie, McDonalds, coffee. I say 'thank you,' and I eat. And then they come with grapefruit, orange. It never stop, it keep coming, keep coming."

He didn't want to refuse, he says, because he knew these were gifts from the heart. "I say, 'What can I do with all this food?' In the front of me, there's a flatbed. In the end of the day, around ten, eleven o'clock in the night, I donate to the guy in the flatbed. A lot of food lined up already, I put it there, and the people they walk and they take that food.'

The only homeless people Luis recalls seeing was during the first weekend. By nine am Sunday morning - mere hours after the majority of the trucks had arrived in town - government-funded media outlets were telling the world that protesters had improperly demanded food from a soup kitchen a mile northeast of Parliament Hill. (Soon, Canada’s Prime Minister was accusing the protesters of being the sort of people who “steal from the homeless.”)

Luis says our national broadcaster witnessed an altogether different incident firsthand. "I was there when the CBC news, they came." Two male vagrants who were lying on the ground, in the snow, were approached by a “Polish lady,” he says. After asking, “You need some food? You need coffee?'" the woman then delivered both.

"But the CBC news, they said we were taking the food from them. It's just wrong how the government lies. I was there."

next installment: Luis, Are You Crazy?

SIDEBAR: Luis’ story continues Friday. Below are a few relevant facts:

Shepherds of Good Hope began as a soup kitchen in the basement of a Catholic church in early 1983. By the end of that year, the kitchen was operating seven days a week and an overnight homeless shelter had been added.

More recently, The Shepherds have been providing supportive housing to individuals battling mental illness and addiction. By the end of 2025, its paid staff will oversee 340 housing units (see page 25 here).

For some time now, most of the Shepherds’ annual funding has come from the city of Ottawa. Additional grants have recently been received from the federal and provincial government. In other words, 40 years after it first began, this organization has morphed into an arm of government. This is a ‘charity’ funded primarily with taxpayer dollars.

The Shepherds have long claimed to provide ‘Community for all’ and ‘Hope for all.” Here’s an exterior sign photographed in 2018:

Photo associated with Google maps (click image).

The Shepherds’ website is unambiguous. While breakfast and dinner are for shelter clients only, ‘All are welcome’ at the ‘public community lunch’ served daily at 11:30 am.

Click image to go to website.

Traditionally, soup kitchens have been places of non-judgmental compassion. Traditionally, soup kitchens have considered it their Christian duty to feed whomever shows up. No one gets turned away because of how they’re dressed, what kind of vehicle they drive, what opinions they hold, or in which province they reside permanently.

When an organization that freely offers hot meals to everyone starts badmouthing some of their clients, a profound breach of trust has occurred.

For soup kitchen officials to publicly declare a certain category of human being (Convoy protesters) unworthy and unwelcome is a stunning betrayal of their core mission.

next installment: Luis, Are You Crazy?