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Ottawa Police Foreshadow Seizing Children of Freedom Convoy Trucker Participants

Neil Campbell
Neil lives in Canada and writes about society and politics.
Published: February 9, 2022
Ottawa Police want to deploy child protective services to seize the children of truckers participating in the Freedom Convoy occupation of Ottawa.
A portion of the Freedom Convoy occupation of Ottawa over federal vaccine mandates for cross-border truckers on February 9, 2022 in Ottawa, Ontario. Ottawa Police have officially foreshadowed deploying child protective services against the children of truckers participating in the protest as the next step to break the movement’s ranks. (Image: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

The Canadian establishment is foreshadowing deploying child protective services to seize the children belonging to truckers participating in the Freedom Convoy occupation protest in the nation’s capital, Ottawa, according to media reports.

Global News reported on Feb. 8 that Ottawa Police Deputy Chief Steve Bell utilized a media briefing to set the stage to use the approach as a method of breaking the occupation when he pointed out that “almost 25 per cent of the 418 trucks have children living in them — children who could be at risk during a police operation.”

Global’s staff writer used the opportunity to add, “Ottawa police have tapped the Children’s Aid Society (CAS) for advice on how to proceed with enforcement operations in the downtown core.”

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The premise was fortified using clarifications from Bell, “We’re not at the stage of looking to do any sort of enforcement activity around that,” and, “We just think it’s an important factor that complicates and makes this an even more challenging operation.”

Federally-funded state messaging outlet Canadian Broadcasting Corporation likewise positioned a similar narrative when it transformed a Feb. 8 live update article about an update on the Ottawa Police Service’s (OPS) response to the Convoy into a piece headlined Large Number of Children Among Protesters Hampering Response, Police Say.

“Bell also turned his focus to the children of protesters. Over the weekend, bouncy castles were set up near Parliament Hill to help entertain the children who remain. Bell said police are working the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa regarding those children,” stated the article.

The article added, “In a statement to CBC, the society confirmed it is working with Ottawa police and said it has a duty to investigate allegations of abuse and whether a child may need protection.”

The piece was nonetheless balanced by quotes from protest participants who “disputed that children are at risk.”

Manufacturing outrage

A large number of left-leaning pseudonymous twitter accounts shared the CBC’s article. One claiming to be a rural-area mother captioned the piece with, “Just as I said, big brave ‘heroes’ use children as a shield so police can’t take action. Time for child protective services to move in. Pathetic. #gohome  #smallmen #losers  #FluTruxKlan.”

A second, similar account captioned the share simply by saying “Where is Child Protective Services?”

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A third totally anonymous pundit did not share the article, but birthed a similar notion into the echo chamber, “Child Protective Services, in the past have apprehended children from cars parked outside of Casinos. CAS workers are obligated to remove children from homeless families, if they are living in their car. What is wrong with the authorities in Ottawa?”

A fourth, whose profile name contained verbiage such as “Wear an N95 #COVIDisAirborne,” spun the same reiterative doldrum, “Truckers using children as hunan shields to keep police at bay. Those big brave truckers.”

National Post columnist Rupa Subramanya likewise linked the issue together in a Feb. 6 tweet regarding a move by the OPS to seize and blockade diesel supplies in an effort to starve out the Convoy that it may endanger children living in the cabins of truckers.

“In case anyone is interested, there are some children who live in the trucks with their parents so cutting off diesel could also jeopardize these kids,” she stated along with a video of police seizing jerry cans.

Another twitter pundit, claiming to be homeless, utilized a Feb. 8 National Post article discussing how jerry cans had become a symbol of dissent for protesters as a springboard for a call to action laden with extremist rhetoric, “This’d be reason for #Ottawa Social services to take kids if parents were #Indigenous, #homeless – anything but #WhiteSupremacist truckers!”

Yet another anon, whose profile described themselves as “a veteran, atheist and LGBTQ+ ally” and whose handle contained no less than three vaccine and one atom emojicons, perhaps to signal to others that they are very scientific, was similarly extreme when they used a Toronto Star article to claim, “Reminds me of my tour in #Afghanistan when the Taliban would use children as human shields.  The #TruckersForFreedom2022 are nothing but cowards. Time to add child abuse to their list of crimes. #KarenKonvoy.”