Downtown Ottawa residents describe stress and anxiety of living with ongoing trucker protest
A Centretown man says he was assaulted by demonstrators while trying to take pictures in Confederation Park on Monday.
Tim Abray has lived in the Centretown area for a decade but described the past four days, as “pretty challenging.”
Abray says he decided to go for a walk on Monday around noon. “I took a walk down the (Queen Elizabeth) Driveway to see how many trucks were still here.” When he got to Confederation Park near the National Arts Centre entrance he says, “I was asked to leave.”
He describes the next moments after being approached by demonstrators.
“They asked me if I was a supporter or not, and I said I was just here having a look and that I live in the neighbourhood. They told me to leave, and I said, ‘I don’t think so, this is where I live and anyone is allowed in the park,’ and he physically grabbed me and removed me from the property,” he says.
Abray says he still had his video recording at the time.
“I immediately went and spoke to police officers onsite,” says Abray. “It is clear they are not interested in a conversation, they are interested in a confrontation, and this is what we have been living with all weekend.”
Abray says he is not interested in pressing charges.
Stress and anxiety for downtown residents
Residents who live in Centretown describe the past four days as extremely loud, frustrating, and stressful.
Sarah Mack lives in Centretown has says it has been constant gridlock outside her apartment all weekend and into Monday. She says she has trouble concentrating and working from home.
“It has been nothing short of a nightmare. They were setting off fireworks all throughout the night. It was getting dangerously close to my windows.”
Mack says her cat has also been stressed and has thrown up because of anxiety. Mack says she has also been verbally assaulted by some demonstrators.
Mack says with no end in sight to the protests, she is making plans to leave. “I am exhausted. With this having no sign of ending at any point I don’t know what I am going to do, what choice I have but to leave the area.”
There are community Facebook groups that are trying to help residents get supplies. Laurena Nash says, “We are organizing trying to get parents noise cancelling headphones for their babies, or noise cancelling devices for rescue pets who have lots of anxiety…we are trying to do what we can because there is a lot of anxiety and stress out there.”
Other residents telling CTV News Ottawa that some people have not being able to get groceries or leave their homes because of safety concerns.
Meanwhile, police continue to ask residents to be patient. Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly says Neighbourhood Resource Teams will be back in neighbourhood on Tuesday.
“Our commitment is to redeploy uniformed members, our neighbourhood resource teams, that were previous deployed into the Market area, Lowertown, Sandy Hill, Centretown communities, redeployed out of the operational demonstration command centre that we have had for the past five days.”
Sloly says the officers will help residents feel safe. “Their primary duties and focus is to create a sense of confidence and safety of those communities. And those are the communities that have been the most directly and negatively affected over the last five days.”
Sloly says the police services goal is, “as quickly as possible we will try to return this city to a sense of normalcy.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
U.S. paused bomb shipment to Israel to signal concerns over Rafah invasion, official says
The U.S. paused a shipment of bombs to Israel last week over concerns that Israel was approaching a decision on launching a full-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah against the wishes of the U.S.
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.