Posted on 02/08/2022 6:58:01 AM PST by billorites
There are between 400 and 500 vehicles illegally parked downtown, and the the tow truck operators on contract to the city won't move them. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
The tow trucks operators on contract to the City of Ottawa are taking a hard pass on requests to haul vehicles out of protest areas, according to the city's top public servant.
"I've contacted them all and they're all refusing, as of today, to provide heavy tow truck work," city manager Steve Kanellakos told reporters Monday evening after a six-hour special council meeting.
"Right now we're reviewing their contracts or standing offer, and reviewing what actions we can take to deal with this unprecedented situation."
There are currently more than 400 vehicles parked illegally in the downtown core, according to Ottawa police, the majority of them heavy trucks (and at least one crane). One of several challenges facing the Ottawa Police Service and the city is how to get them off the streets if protesters refuse to drive them away.
The demonstrators, who began arriving in Ottawa more than a week ago, have said they will only leave after COVID-19 mandates are lifted.
This is proving to be a serious issue for city officials. Experts told the CBC towing a truck without the help of a driver is already difficult. It's impossible without towing equipment.
David Allen, president of Gary's Towing, says the political backlash and subsequent financial hit wouldn’t be worth taking the job of removing the trucks currently sitting in Ottawa’s downtown core. 0:48
It's not clear how many towing companies have standing offers with the city, or the terms of their contracts.
And it doesn't seem like Ottawa is having much luck outside city limits.
According to Kanellakos, Mayor Jim Watson has reached out to his counterparts in other Ontario municipalities, but no dice.
"Right now, the consensus seems to be that many of them — or most of them — don't want to do the work because … they rely on on the the heavy truck industry for their livelihood, and they don't want to damage that part of their business. That's the position they're taking, at least."
Kanellakos said the city is speaking with federal and provincial officials to come up with a solution.
Deputy police chief Steve Bell agreed that finding companies that will agree to tow protesters has been a challenge in "every jurisdiction that's faced this, and it's forcing us to come up with some creative solutions."
He wouldn't elaborate on what those creative solutions might be, but said police are coming "toward a position where we're not going to let the tow truck operators … be an obstacle to ending what's occurring."
The tow truck operators have chosen the right side.
I sure wish the police would do the same. The old “back the blue” idea has lost a lot of appeal for me. Fascist thugs.
They will have to be awfully creative to get rid of the convoy without heavy tow trucks... Perhaps they can break out the Sawzalls and cut 10,000 trucks into little tiny pieces and carry them away.
Of course they are going to refuse. The bog rigs atee customers
I don’t think there are that many big tow trucks that can handle those big rigs.
Ummmmm, maybe drop the stupid mandates??? They do not work anyway!!
“Right now, we’re looking at how we can retaliate against people who don’t want to involve themselves, their businesses, or their employees in the dangerous removal of equipment that the government purports to be owned by terrorists.”
And at that point the cops will have to decide if they're citizens or whores . . .
Looks like the city doesn’t like the tow truck operators being “on the right side of history” . . .
They will perhaps use the military to move them. It’s what communists do.
Bear in mind that police are NOT law enforcement. They deal with policies, not laws.
Thats why they are police - Polis, of the City. Deal with the policies (ordinanes, codes, and the like) of the city. They do not protect the city-zen, only the city/government.
“drop the stupid mandates??? They do not work anyway”
All depends on what “work” means.
The real intent is a and compliance exercise with a heavy dose of mind control......problem is, most people don’t believe it.
The Canadian military is not very large and they probably don’t have that many heavy towers.
We already know the answer to that question: they'll break out the fishnet stockings.
But, the military then would need tow trucks, and heavy duty ones. Do they have them?
The military is mainly good at breaking things and blowing things up to smithereens. Is that the route they’ll take?
I wonder if the Canadian military does?
Let's hope not, or that the politicians don't know of them.
Tyrants, it’s what tyrant’s do
The Army tows 70 ton tanks out of mud bogs on the regular. Im sure the canooks have similar Army equipment. This is what the USA uses. The Canadian military already said they won’t get involved, I don’t think they have a National Reserve like our N.Guard at the provincial level. They could ask UN “peacekeepers” to come in with their heavy equipment Canada has a history of UN missions T boy would love to have blue helmets in his capital city the optics would end his administration.
The more you tighten your grip, Turdeau, the more honklers will slip through your fingers.
I find it remarkable that the tow truck operators would breach their contracts to do this, but good for them.
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