During the first week he spent in Ottawa, New Brunswick trucker Travis Macleod says he was oblivious to how the protest was being portrayed in the mainstream media: "We didn't know what the politicians were saying. We weren't listening to that. We were enjoying the love, and the hugs, the handshakes, the thank yous. I guess we were in our own little world."
Having driven in from the other end of the country, he says "It's funny how people talk about Chris Barber and Tamara Lich" - who became public faces of the Convoy. (Chris, from Saskatchewan, is one of two original Convoy organizers. Tamara, from Alberta, started the Facebook page and established the wildly successful GoFundMe campaign.) "I had no idea who they were," says Travis, "I didn't go to Ottawa for them." Rather, the protest "took on a life of its own." People were there for a variety of reasons.
A close friend joined Travis in Ottawa for the second week. A cross-border trucker who'd declined COVID vaccination, as of January 15th this man could no longer complete his normal run from New Brunswick into the US, up into Toronto and Montreal, and then back home again. "His whole family had disowned him," says Travis. Over the vaccination issue:
He didn't get to see his own grandson for months. He sat up there with me for a week, in the passenger seat. People went to his window as much as they went to my window. The thank yous, the donations. He couldn't believe it. He said, 'People at home, watching the news, they think we're a bunch of thugs up here.'
Wholly ignored by journalists was the profound, persistent, prolonged public support. In Travis' words,
Every day people walked in across the bridge from Gatineau [Quebec] right behind me. There'd just be swarms of people coming around your truck. I had a kid go home and draw my blue truck. People were bringing us Valentines. The love, the caring, it was amazing. That was our Woodstock. Our generation didn't go to Woodstock, right. So that was our Woodstock.
During those weeks he met "a lot of people that feel like brothers and sisters, that I never knew before. They're like family now. I don't think that'll ever go away. I hope it don't."
For Travis, one of the more unforgettable experiences involved an elderly man: "The one thing that broke my heart was a veteran. I mean this guy was 80-some-years-old. I got out, shook his hand, gave him a hug. He made me get back in my truck. Then he went round in front my truck and gave me a soldier's salute." There was nothing perfunctory about it. This was a long, extended salute.
There were moments, says Travis, when Ottawa did feel a bit like a war zone. "It was cold. Minus 30. It was nothing but concrete. You sit there at night and they got snipers on the roof all around, pointing guns down at you. A lot of people didn't notice, a lot of people didn't see 'em. But they did."
final installment: A Costly Experience
Part 1: What Were People Thinking?
Glad you found Travis Donna and have recorded his story. Especially the vet saluting and snipers on the roof - while cowardly JT was “recovering” from COVID in a secret location.
The snipers were also on the roofs in summer when James Topp marched into Ottawa. Also, Parliament Hill was blocked off with security checks at every entrance. Do you suppose this is normal protocol every Canada Day? Astounding the lengths JT went to to make it appear to the TV viewing public what a dangerous situation this was!
The salute!