'You miss a shift, you can't pay rent': Trucker protest keeping Ottawa workers from working

The ongoing downtown trucker demonstration is affecting many residents, especially those who can no longer earn a wage because of businesses having to close.

When demonstrators converged inside the Rideau Center on Jan. 29, many were protesting public health mandates, and many were unmasked.

“They came in and started yelling and screaming at people,” says Roberta Arlidge, who works at a shop in the mall. “Everything that is going on right now is just scary.”

For the sake of safety, Rideau Centre management decided to close the mall, leaving Arlidge without any shifts.

“It’s bad when you don’t work and you’re making $15 an hour. You miss a shift and you can’t pay your rent and it’s stressful,” says Arlidge, adding that there are also the costs of groceries and taking public transit. “We have no income and the people that come in everyday that I know are single mothers and are struggling. If they miss one shift, they have no money and I know for myself I have no savings so it’s like one shift, I’m done.”

The shopping centre in Ottawa's downtown has remained closed for eleven days, leaving hundreds of stores locked-up and more than 1,500 people from earning a living.

On Monday, at an emergency council meeting, motions were tabled and passed, asking for more support.

“Asking the federal and provincial government for immediate intervention to relieve employers and employees who have lost income because of this occupation in our city,” says Coun. Mathieu Fleury, whose ward includes the Rideau Centre as well as hundreds of other businesses in the area. “I know they’re on it but we really need some quick action. Every day has impacts. As you know, many of the businesses had to pay rent on February first … it’s critical; it’s pay for food, pay for rent, pay for transportation, childcare.”

There has been some relief for Arlidge; her employer was able to provide some shifts at the shop's second location in the Bayshore Shopping Center, far from downtown. And while she is thankful that she will no longer have to choose between a meal and her rent, what she hopes is for and end to the ongoing protest, so she can return to her job downtown.

“They [the protesters] are doing this for their rights, then how can they tell me to take my mask off? I mean I have a right to wear a mask and keep a job.”