CTV News Ottawa wins two local RTDNA Canada awards for coverage of Freedom Convoy, derecho

CTV News Ottawa has won two prestigious journalism awards for coverage of major news stories in 2022.

The awards are among eight national news and six local news awards from RTDNA Canada that recognized CTV News. The organization announced the winners Saturday at its gala event in Toronto.

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CTV News Ottawa won the Breaking News Large Market award in the digital category for coverage of the Freedom Convoy protest that took hold of downtown Ottawa for three weeks.

CTV News Ottawa also won the TV Newscast Large Market award under the video category for coverage of the powerful derecho storm that blew across eastern Ontario in 2022.

"We are thrilled to be recognized with these prestigious awards," said Peter Angione, director of news and information programming at Bell Media Ottawa. "We have an incredible group of dedicated and passionate storytellers in our newsroom here in Ottawa. It's great to be recognized by our peers."

Richard Gray, vice president of news at Bell Media, said, "My biggest congratulations to all of our winners and nominees for their commitment to delivering exceptional journalism that Canadians can trust."

FREEDOM CONVOY

The Freedom Convoy protest arrived in Ottawa in late January 2022. Thousands of people and hundreds of large vehicles descended upon the city the first weekend for a massive protest against COVID-19 public health mandates and the federal Liberal government, led by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

By the following Monday, it became apparent that the protesters were true to their word of refusing to leave until their demands of having all COVID-19 health measures rescinded nationwide were met. What followed was weeks of tension between the protesters and downtown Ottawa residents. The protest led to the resignation of the police chief and the removal of the police services board chair in a dramatic council meeting.

By the third week, the federal government would invoke the Emergencies Act, a historic, first-of-its-kind move to empower police to remove the protesters. A mandatory inquiry found that the federal government was justified in the invocation of the act, though Justice Paul Rouleau said his finding came with some reluctance.

Eventually, with the aid of several local, provincial, and national police officers, a large-scale operation pushed the protesters out of downtown Ottawa. Several Freedom Convoy organizers were arrested and charged. Two of them, Tamara Lich and Chris Barber, are on trial this month in Ottawa.

The protest also led to several discussions about the significance and ownership of Wellington Street in front of Parliament, and a new zero-tolerance policy for vehicle-based protests in the downtown core.

DERECHO

On May 21, 2022, a powerful windstorm blew across southern Ontario, eventually reaching Ottawa, where extreme wind gusts toppled trees and power lines, leading to more than 180,000 homes and businesses in the city losing power for days. Several people, including at least three in eastern Ontario, were killed as the storm made its way across Ontario and Quebec and into Maine.

The people of Ottawa learned the term "derecho" that weekend. From the Spanish word for "straight", it's a rare meteorological event involving a long line of very powerful thunderstorms that moves across an area. Wind gusts in Ottawa were estimated at up to 190 km/h.

The disaster was ranked as the sixth most expensive 'insured loss event' in Canadian history by the Insurance Bureau of Canada, causing more than $720 million in damage across Ontario and $155 million in Quebec.