On Day 11 of the Truckers for Freedom Convoy, Erin O’Toole was ousted as Conservative leader, Candice Bergen assumed interim leadership and the Ottawa Police considered calling in the military on peaceful, unarmed protestors.
It was a huge day for the trucker convoy as the protest bagged its first major win – the turfing of opposition leader Erin O’Toole. News of a caucus revolt first surfaced Tuesday night, suggesting enough Conservative MPs had signed a letter to hold a vote on Erin O’Toole.
That vote took place today, with MPs deciding, 73-45 to get rid of O’Toole. By the end of the day, the Tories had selected their new interim leader, Candice Bergen.
A party stalwart, Bergen had defended Canada’s truckers in Question Period on Monday in a fiery exchange with Liberal government house leader Mark Holland.
Bergen reminded the Liberals that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had worn blackface “more times than he could remember” and that the Liberals had been silent when statues were being beheaded and churches being burned down across the country.
Early possibilities for the Conservative leadership include Pierre Poilievre, Leslyn Lewis, Patrick Brown and Michelle Rempel Garner.
Meanwhile in Coutts, Alberta, the ongoing standoff between the truckers and the RCMP remained largely unchanged, with the truckers continuing to hold strong.
This aerial footage from Rebel News shows the scene at the border earlier this morning.
Food and supplies were being driven into Coutts by locals who were allowed to get through the RCMP barricades. Everyone else was kept away from the scene.
https://twitter.com/SydFizzard/status/1488993087653392388
An exchange between a protestor at the blockade and an RCMP officer was posted to Twitter. Here, you can hear the RCMP officer trying to convince the protestor to back down.
“I see how you’re doing what you think is the right thing, but you’re doing it in the wrong way and not accomplishing what you want. In fact, you end up making your position worse,” the RCMP officer said.
Rebel News posted footage showing hundreds of trucks driving down to the Coutts border to join the blockade and offer their support.
In Ontario, the rhetoric ramped up against the peaceful truckers who have been camping out on Wellington Street since Friday.
Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly issued a warning today that his officers might not be prepared to handle the protestors who, peacefully and unarmed, have been dancing and singing for days. Chief Sloly said that all options “were on the table,” including calling in the military.
Sloly’s remarks were condemned by former Lieutenant general Michael Day, who commanded Canadian special forces.
“This is a horrible idea. These are unarmed citizens,” Day said on Twitter. “This is a police matter. Failure to act appropriately at the front end does not provide license to pass the buck.”
The scene on the ground today in Ottawa was again peaceful. Protestors continued singing and dancing for most of the afternoon while serving up free food and coffee on every block along the closed stretch of Wellington Street.
This was the scene on Parliament Hill today.
One trucker spoke to True North from his rig, sending a message to all Canadians that “(e)very village, every small city has to stand up and fight for our liberty and for our freedom.”
Watch this recap of Wednesday’s events in Ottawa.
The GoFundMe officially surpassed $10 million today. In response to the major donation milestone, GoFundMe paused the fund and is conducting a review.
The total before the fund was paused had reached $10,096,500.
