Tungasuvvingat Inuit asks Ottawa protesters to go home
Organization says the Freedom Convoy is impeding its work to help vulnerable Inuit
Supporters of the Freedom Convoy gather near Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Jan. 29 protesting government vaccine and health mandates. Tungasuvvingat Inuit says the demonstrations are impeding its ability to support vulnerable Inuit. (Photo by Madalyn Howitt)
Tungasuvvingat Inuit is asking protesters to leave downtown Ottawa, saying the ongoing demonstrations are threatening the safety of vulnerable Inuit.
“In a period with recent extreme cold warnings, the ongoing health crisis, the emergency housing crisis and food security issues, the protest is negatively impacting those vulnerable members of our community,” said TI’s communications manager, Joël Lamoureux, in a news release Thursday.
The Ottawa-based organization provides services like housing support and food security programs to urban Inuit. The ongoing blockades and number of protestors and trucks has impeded TI’s ability to provide programming and services to urban Inuit, Lamoureux said.
Canada’s capital has one of the biggest Inuit populations in southern Canada.
The Freedom Convoy has been in Ottawa since Jan. 28, when hundreds of truck drivers and supporters rolled into the downtown area around Parliament Hill to protest government vaccine mandates and health restrictions, with some participants decrying vaccines altogether.
Residents and business owners downtown have expressed frustration at the disruptions and public safety issues the demonstrations have caused, with some reporting being harassed for wearing masks or being unable to get to work due to traffic blockades.
Lamoureux said that service providers in the city are concerned about their ability to reach vulnerable community members needing support following incidents of harassment of shelter workers, protesters demanding food intended for those in need, and impacts of the “intimidating presence and ongoing noise” of the convoy on women and homeless people.
“As we approach another weekend and rumours of a second weekend of protests, we respectfully ask that the protestors remove themselves from Ottawa. It is time to go home and allow for our vulnerable urban Indigenous communities to feel safe again and regain access to cultural programming and essential services,” Lamoureux said.
“TI believes in the right to peaceful protests. However, the protests in downtown Ottawa have introduced a high-level anxiety and increased fear for the vulnerable Indigenous communities in the area,” Lamoureux said.
Ottawa Police Services Chief Peter Sloly said on Wednesday that the convoy is expected to swell on the weekend, and “policing alone” might not be enough to end the protest.
“This is a national issue, not an Ottawa issue,” Sloly said. “I am increasingly concerned there is no policing solution to this.”
I don’t support the convoy. But really, leave because someone might feel anxious? Are we really at a point in society where the idea of having some anxiety is enough to ask someone to leave the room? People realize that anxiety is a normal human emotion and you cannot live your entire life free of anxiety discomforting feelings right?
80+ decibel truck horns blowing 27/7 would have any person anxious after a week to say the least. Sleep deprivation is a method of torture.
The trucks do not blow their horns 24/7, they have enough respect for others to restrict this to between 8am and 8pm. It’s your responsibility to get all the facts before passing biased judgement! Another thing to point out is that food is being given to anyone in the area, free of charge, regardless of who you are or where you’re from. You may not want your freedom of movement and choice back but there are many other Canadians who do! It’s time to renew respect and unity in this country!! Be part of the solution and not part of the problem!! There’s nothing to fear from these people and currently, downtown Ottawa is the safest place to be!
Mhmm, yes, the white supremacists who harassed homeless Ottawans and then homeless shelter workers until they were given food last weekend are now giving food out to people to make themselves look good.
And as far as when the noise is happening I’ll trust the actual videos from residents in the area showing horns, fireworks, and an air raid siren blowing at all hours, thanks.
Unless you’re here in Ottawa, you in no position to determine or judge someone’s anxiety. The downtown core is not a safe place to be, let alone for marginalized people!
Safety theater is always such an effective rhetorical tool…
“marginalized people aren’t safe!!!”
Oh my gosh!
I can and I will judge. How about the so called anxious people build some character?
So people with PTSD just need more character? Seriously?
The reality is if one has PTSD, anxiety, or any other mental issues, one has to address it oneself, not everyone else. Be realistic.
Sadly these protesters are selfish and long for some attention. They do not care if their brother/sister Canadian is in crisis. It’s a sad world.. it’s Now a ME world. It’s all about what they think they deserve. Not what the vulnerable need
One option would be for TI to ask our Senator and MP to join them in calling for an end to the protest. This would be difficult for Dennis Patterson, because his party supports the occupation of downtown Ottawa by people opposed to public health measures. On this issue, as on so many issues, Patterson should grow a spine and speak out.
It still boggles my mind how Dennis got appointed as our Senator when he wasn’t living in Nunavut for years and his tax base was in BC. How the previous government appointed him and got away with it because he had a shack in Iqaluit that he could call home. Shady.
Our Senator does not have our best interest but for his party and that is not our interest, the last two elections the Cons have come in distant 3rd.
It’s time we get a real Nunavut resident as our Senator, this one continues to follow his party lines and not that of Nunavut.
Denis sees the writing on the wall, his party is falling apart and being taken over by far right more extreme right,
He’s left the party and is sitting as an independent now.
My Freedom doesn’t end where your fear begin!!!!
Yeah it has to be more than annoying for those living and working in Ottawa. On another note a blacked out comment, unacceptable to CBC is as follows. “Alternative media reading and viewing and listening is a good idea whose time has come.” That is it, but censored by our own national broadcasting service the CBC. It is getting crazy out there.
People in Ottawa are very tolerant of Tungasuvvingat Inuit’s clientele. Sometimes troubled Inuit in Ottawa cause problems too, with public drunkenness, fighting, panhandling, loitering, and outdoor urinating or defecating.
I think maybe this organization should return the favour, and have some tolerance for the truckers who work hard and pay taxes to help people like the clients of Tungasuvvingat Inuit.
It’s pretty interesting to see these organizations who are so dependent on funding from their fellow Canadians, and who create ongoing social problems themselves, be so intolerant of a short term disruption due to a protest by people who come to Ottawa to ask for an end to discrimination to ALL people for the vaccine mandates. A disproportionate number of Inuit are not vaccinated, and these truckers are protesting for an end to the discrimination against all unvaccinated people.
The truckers are working to maintain freedom in personal health care choices for all Canadians of all races, including Inuit. The people running these organizations need to show the same tolerance for others that they demand be shown to them.
As if Inuit dont pay taxes ? all Inuit are required to pay taxes. And not all Inuit are dependant in the fundings. And whose land are you on to say you need so much freedom? We had given you all the freedom you probably dont even deserve but think you should get more freedom than what you already have. Taima.
This may blow your mind, but this website isn’t a “land owned by the Inuit” and any commenter is free to speak their mind from ANYWHERE in the world.
Many of you are probably fighting against people that haven’t ever set foot in Nunavut.
Nunatsiaq’s anonymous commenting policy is akin to using 4chan.
Why don’t the Inuit in Ottawa just yell at them to f off back to where they come from, just like they do to southerners in the north? That’ll fix the problem.
I wonder if all those pretend indians banging drums like they were at a kumbaya concert singing “Yabba dabba doo” pay taxes?
Inuit pay taxes, just ask my friggin pay cheque.
Your language comprehension is lacking. Nobody is saying Inuit don’t pay taxes, it’s pointing out that other people do pay taxes that pay for Inuit programs, so it’s nice consider the fact that they also have concerns and deserve to be heard and not silenced.
Inuit pay taxes genius. Why would anyone feel safe or protected by a group of people that it was okay to carry around symbols of hate and oppression and deface public monuments and memorials?
Everyone who lives in the North is dependent on “fundings”, more commonly known as subsidies. These subsidies are financed by the Canadian taxpayer and help pay for your housing, food and many other things including the internet service you used to post your comment.
These right wing extremists really don’t help Canadians, they just move backwards. This is not about freedom but more about their party not getting into power by election so they try and force things instead.
A small minority of truckers are not vaccinated and these protesters majority of them are not truckers, this is a political move to try and force the elected government to do something for a small group that has ties to right wing extremists.
Most of the truckers are vaccinated and are working to bring our cargo and they are the real heroes not these clowns and their entitled and extremists views. They don’t even have a leader in their party anymore as they kicked the tool out for not being extreme enough.
Positive side to this is most Canadians especially in the Ottawa area see what these clowns are like and will not support them again in the elections .
To you have something on your table today?
Thank a trucker.
But one that actually went to work.
Thank a trucker who has been working to bring us our essential goods – not one partying with white nationalists while the rest of us work and do our best to support our communities through tough times.
I will thank the truckers not in the protest. I will also thank the pilots who supply us, captains, and train engineers.
This is not just about vaccine mandates and health restrictions. It is also about constitutional and god-given rights and freedoms and to put an end to government overreach as well as their shortcomings. The truckers will be there for awhile (until the prime minister responds) so you should also consider respectfully requesting Justin to hear them out if you want them gone sooner. Also, go check it out this week for yourself and go advocate for Inuit rights while you are there! You know very well that the federal government has not lived up to their promises to Inuit and because of this we still do not have even basic human rights! So go talk to some truckers and other protestors and hear them out. There are other Indigenous groups there advocating for their rights, so why not Inuit? Maybe this is a good opportunity to talk to all of the Indigenous groups that are there. This is bigger than what the mainstream media wants you to see…it’s everyday Canadians fighting for their jobs, their livelihood, for body autonomy, for their spiritual and religious beliefs, for truth and transparency, for a government that actually follows science and doesn’t hide or sensor other expert opinions, to bring back non-partisan media, to put an end to demonization of a minority group, for a government that works for the people and not the other way around…the list goes on. If you are asking yourself, we never had any support like this for Inuit rights, this is the time! Or at the very least, go have a conversation with the organizers and see if you can come up with some potential solutions because it sounds like they are in this for the long haul. I’m sure it’s a huge inconvenience for everyone in the capital right now but this happens to be where the parliament was situated…this is where protests will happen. And when the government is overreaching and there is no demonstrable justification for what they are doing, people have a right to stand up to them.
Show me your degree in Constitutional law and I’ll start listening your tripe about “God given rights”. Until that day comes, and I am pretty confident it never will. Your and your ilk need to leave the field you lost and overstayed your welcome.
Get out of the way and let Freedom ring!
The MAGA cap-wearing Interim Leader is showing the true colours of her Party and has no intertest in peaceful protest, helping people, etc. It is a sad day for the majority of Canadians to see physical/emotional support given to illegal occupiers over one of the abused/marginalized group of people.
This article is the same as any other one on cbc, ctv, msn. Trying to debunk and lower the moral of the convoy. They are there for everybody! My freedom of choice doesn’t dissapear because of a scared few. Or because of a govt that wants a mark and tally method for every citizen. Nor do I support segregation and economic distruction in our country. People have choices, and anyone speaking of the success of modern sciences in our current situation has only ever read what mainstream media wanted them to see!
Everyone has the freedom of choice, but with choice come consequences. If you aren’t willing to accept the consequences of your choices then don’t start blaming others and protesting non-existent infringements.
The argument that people need to choose a vaccine or work is so flawed. Drive east to west instead of north to south?
Actually, some people have been forced to make that choice. So you are factually incorrect.
Like who? There are calls for tens of thousands of jobs in trucking right now in Canada. There has never been so many jobs available right now across the country and all sectors. Besides the government and front line service industry there are tons of employers without vaccine mandates if people want the right to choose. News flash, you don’t have a right to work. This protest makes so little sense, if they are completely successful they still can’t cross the border because of the US government. If you aren’t working now or leveraging a massive pay raise given the market you’re a fool.
I think we need to be open to people who have other opinions than ours as long as they do not promote hatred or act in violent ways. There seem to be social conservative activists and extremists on Parliament hill but not all people who support these demonstrations are right wing extremists. Of course the protestors want to be heard; we all do; why do you think we are typing comments here? Some people do it in writing, some people do it by honking their truck horns. Some people do it by dancing. They are all valid ways of expressing opinions. I would find it very difficult to have that loud noise around me all day but, except for individuals who engage in violent behaviors, they do have the right to express themselves. Not everybody has a job that allows them to work from home. People are fed up. Some people just talk about it with their friends and family and some go out honking on the streets. We need to have discussions about vaccine mandates, lockdowns, mental health implications, the pharmaceutical economic interests, and supporting our healthcare system with adequate resources. We have started that conversation a little bit as a society but some people are really suffering economically and mentally and physically from all of this now and they cannot wait for society to slowly come to an enlightened way of addressing a pandemic. And our leaders should be willing to talk to people who have different opinions from them.
I agree with you, but the issue here is with the majority of people not having the same opinions as these right wingers they don’t respect that and make up all kinds of false accusations with media, doctors and the government to try and get their own way. Spreading false information.
All they do is drive this country into a divide only listening to their own narrative and denouncing anything else that doesn’t fit in with theirs.
Partly, yes, and I am far from fond of the misinformation from a certain part of society. But, I think there has been an increase in self righteousness between a camp that claims to be interested in freedom, truth (while making stuff up or twisting partial facts) and a camp that claims to be interested in love and community and safety (while giving up their critical thinking and not being very loving toward people with other views). I am fed up with both. They are both annoying. We need to be rational, look at facts, data, be open about the flaws of our pandemic management as much as its successes, and disagree with each other without demonizing each other. And we need leaders who listen to all of us and bring us together, not egomaniacs who use our suffering, anxiety and frustration to draw votes.
This comment is bang on.
Stay strong, truckers! Canadians of all races & cultures are standing with you. Do not back down until every government in Canada (feds, provincial/territorial and municipal) ends all COVID restrictions.
what a joke lmao
Imagine if indigenous or environmental groups tried to do the same as these right wing groups, the army would be called in and they would be force to leave and some would probably get shot.
Double standards here, I don’t understand how this group can get away with what they are doing but if indigenous group does the same it’s called a crime.
When a court orders an indigenous group to get out of the way after due process is used in a court of law it is another storey. That will be coming for this convoy soon enough, but please stop conflating this with the wetsuwetsin issue where a few defied an injunction and were accordingly met with law enforcement with a protest that just started.
As far as I know recent demonstrations for environmental reasons and Indigenous rights led to RCMP involvement, not the military. Yes, force, but no, not the military as was the case in the Oka crisis.
Yes but in this case if a indigenous group did them same and closed off downtown Ottawa the RCMP would not be enough and the Amry would have been called in to deal with thousands of indigenous people protesting. Imagine if these right wing extremists were indigenous and how they would get treated, double standards for sure.
2020 – indigenous groups held trains hostage in Ontario
2021 – indigenous groups toppled statues and burned churches
where are the arrests in these cases?
When Indigenous groups began blockading rail lines in 2020 the hue and cry from the CPC was loud and clear bring in the Army, bring in the police and clear them off the tracks. When Indigenous peoples blockade pipeline routes in British Columbia the police response was massive and stoutly supported by the CPC. When a convoy that included white supremacists, racists and bigots descended on Ottawa the first words out of the Interim Leader’s mouth were “patriots” and “lovers of freedom”, Canadians have taken notice and see the hypocrisy.
January 6th has already passed. You blew the timing folks.
Woke protests endure for weeks and months, often with extensive violence and destruction, with nary a cry from the baizuo population.
Yup. Hundreds of businesses closed permanently over the various BLM protests that were anything but peaceful. Riots, arson, theft were rampant, along with violence. Anyone who was opposed to their actions was instantly tagged as racist. And absolutely no surprise that this protest was instantly tagged as one of “white supremists”, and “extremists”. What isn’t being shown by the mainstream media is the faces of the protest, and the multicultural people at them. There is no greater way to divide a country then to force the narrative you want, and the 100% government funded CBC is as close to state run media as we are going to get in Canada. How blind are the public to not see what’s really going on.
Is this in the States or in Canada? Cause all we see is right wing nuts who when they don’t win in a election start protesting to get what they want, when indigenous people protest these same right wing nuts call for the army and rcmp to get rid of them, run over them.
Some of you look up to right wing nuts in the states too much, worse example to follow when there’s much better ones around the world.
Name ONE BLM protest in Canada that endured for weeks or months and caused extensive damage and rioting? Betcha can’t because there hasn’t been one! Stop lying to try and justify the illegal occupation of downtown Ottawa!