Robinson says she understands that everyone has the right to freedom of speech and to protest, but within reason. “The first few days there was constant honking back and forth,” she said. Robinson says the protest may be peaceful, but it’s also disruptive. Since returning to work, Robinson says her 16-kilometre daily commute has doubled to over an hour long. “A lot of us are required to be on-site to do our jobs,” she said. Robinson says the protest left some colleagues out of work because they didn’t have the ability to work from home. “The first week that it started we had to work from home because it completely shut down our government building.” “I’ve been in the centre of it,” she said. She works just a couple of blocks away from the protest, which has made her daily commute a nightmare. On one side are those who believe they are fighting for the freedom of all Canadians by refusing to back down until the government lifts vaccine mandates and other public-health restrictions. On the other side are those who see something very different: a hostile takeover of Canada's capital spearheaded by conspiracy theorists and far-right agitators.Īmber Robinson, who was born and raised in Orillia, has no choice but to be in downtown Ottawa during the week. What follows are some thoughts from various people impacted by the protest. However, the sporadic police presence - moving in groups of 15 to 20 - around the downtown core in the hours after Premier Doug Ford declared a province-wide state of emergency, has created an eerie overtone as many are concerned a volatile situation could erupt into chaos. People from all over Ontario can be witnessed dancing in the streets and offering each other food, water, and other necessities to keep the protest efforts going. The atmosphere in Canada's capital Friday seems to be almost festival-like. He will be reporting from the nation's capital throughout the weekend. OrilliaMatters reporter Tyler Evans has made the journey to Ottawa to report on the protest blockade, inspired by the 'Freedom Convoy,' which is heading into its third weekend.
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