Jerry Can Brigade

I was the only journalist to observe this brilliant publicity stunt firsthand.

Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 8th. During the trucker protest in Ottawa. From the stage someone says they’re looking for 200 volunteers to gather four blocks away, in 20 minutes time. No further info is provided.

I head in that direction with Deb, the friend who has accompanied me to Ottawa. As people gather at the designated location, she joins in. With my Nikon and smartphone, I remain at a distance in order to record the big picture. As far as I can tell, I’m the only journalist on the scene.

A pickup truck arrives, pulling a trailer loaded with Jerry cans. This photo is taken by Deb:

Organizers spend several minutes briefing the crowd before handing out the cans. Folks are advised to be polite if stopped by police. The cans have never held fuel. They are decoys.

Eventually a second pickup truck arrives, parking across the street. It’s gloriously red, with a large Canadian flag. Apparently, those Jerry cans do contain fuel. People take them.

The crowd splits in two and begins walking up parallel streets toward Parliament Hill. I record video. So do many bystanders. These are posted to social media, and the infectious good humour goes viral.

Someone I recently interviewed says she checked social media while enroute to Ottawa that day and was so excited she urged her fiancé to stop the car:

I'm looking at my phone, and what they did with the gas cans! I just couldn't believe it. Seeing the video of all these [people] all coming with their gas cans…it was magic.

Gas cans. Diesel cans. People drinking out of them!