Tractors in Ottawa
Guest post. Farmers reinforced the truckers on the 2nd weekend of the protest. More than one attempt was made to stop them.
Ian Cumming, who writes for Ontario Farmer and lives “down a back road,” saw a different side of the Freedom Convoy than most journalists. In the guest post below (written in February 2022), he reports on a multi-directional tractor convoy that descended on Ottawa on the second weekend of the protest.
Farmers were there to express solidarity with the truckers. They spent the night in the cab of these tractors in subzero weather before returning home. Ian says that while one arm of the convoy was en route, an individual who was suspected of being a police officer attempted to halt it via a dangerous manoeuvre. Ian didn’t witness these events firsthand but explained to me in a recent interview:
I think I had about 30 calls when this happened, including Martin [Renaud] who was at the head of the thing. And they’re heading into Ottawa and they’re all bumper to bumper, and they’re going at a pretty good road speed for tractors. And this guy, you know, kept jutting in and out, and then got in front of Martin and slammed his brakes.
Luckily, they didn’t pile into each other. So they circled this guy. And he was a cop - he was a cop trying to sabotage this. You know, the restraint of this whole thing was unbelievable. He didn’t get beat up.
I didn’t see it happen but, you know, I knew people for 30 years that were there. And when different people call you with the exact same story not knowing that the others have called, then you kind of go ‘Well, that’s true.’
Guest post by Ian Cumming
The sun was out and one of four tractor convoys heading into Ottawa on Saturday, February 5th was now 200 vehicles long. It was coming from the east, with Glengarry County farmer Martin Renaud in the lead.
Having been in the army where he led young men with machine guns into some situations which he never talks about, Renaud has an ingrained “take charge” attitude. There were reports coming in that police had all access to the downtown core shut off, and the tractors couldn’t exit the highway.
It wasn’t misinformation. When I drove to Parliament Hill at 6:30 am, after seeing Renaud and other farmers off back in Glengarry, a massive number of police vehicles were doing just that. Elected MPP Randy Hillier, who was leading one of the four convoys in from Lanark County, was also informed of the police decree.
“Okay, plan B,” Hillier told Renaud and others over the old-fashioned CB radios. “If all their cops are blocking downtown, let’s go and block the airport.”
Whether or not it was one of the police chief’s promised “intelligence officers” who was part of the convoy and part of the CB conversation, the police were instantly on the line. “No, no, it’s okay, you can come downtown with your tractors.”
Several minutes later, a second attempt at stopping the convoy well out of the city was enacted. A sturdy, one-ton truck with a solid back flatbed weaved in and out of the convoy on the highway. The driver of that truck then got in front of Renaud and “slammed on the brakes, wanting to cause a pileup.”
Later Renaud said:
I managed to yank to the side but my one tire hit him and took my tire off the rim and I started to lose air. The guy in the truck was fine. I didn’t confront him, just let him be. Ignored him. Nobody hit anybody from behind.
Sending the rest of the convoy on, they had a mechanic’s truck with them. So “we hit the bent rim back in place with a sledge, he had a compressor and I got filled with air, good to go,” said Renaud.
Being separated from his pack, Renaud made his way downtown and then got chatting with truck drivers, from cab to cab.
Sleeping in his tractor, about 2 am Sunday morning a lad texted him, wondering where there were sit-down bathroom facilities. Renaud directed him to some outhouses, but the police had stopped the modern Mennonite lads coming back into downtown, who had been cleaning them out all week free of charge. Hence the outhouses were overflowing and disgusting. The deed was done on the top floor of a multi level parking garage, “with the pigeons.”
Renaud himself later found a restaurant that had defied city orders, was open for the truckers, and had bathroom facilities. Back at his tractor, he was approached by dairy producer Gilbert Stadleman, who handed him $1,500 in cash.
Renaud said thanks, other people could use the money far more than him. He and Stadleman walked through the parked transport trucks and handed it out.
Martin Renaud is quoted in this news article published the Wednesday prior to the above described events. A Facebook page is cited, which bore the following message: “Convoy to Ottawa leaving from Alexandria, let’s keep it peaceful, but let’s support the truckers!!”
More important details. I was unaware the farmers were as involved. More heros! Thanks Donna..