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Mayoral candidate Alex Lawson says he delivered portable toilets during the convoy protest in downtown Ottawa, though his team denies he provided any material support to the organizers and he now says the protest “went too far.”
His comments came during his campaign launch event on Saturday and followed questions about his past statements relating to truckers days before the convoy arrived in the city in January 2022.
At the event near Merivale Road, Lawson said opponents have been attacking him and will “love to label” him for what he was about to say.
“When the convoy was in town, we heard that people were shitting in the streets and in buckets and pouring them in the streets,” he said. “Instead of doing nothing about it, we brought them toilets because it solved that problem.”
CBC attended the event and requested an interview with Lawson, but his team declined. Pressed for an answer as he worked the crowd, Lawson wouldn’t say to whom, specifically, the toilets were provided.
His team had previously denied to CBC that he provided any material support to the convoy. At the launch event, Lawson’s campaign manager said the toilets supported “the people of Ottawa.”
The campaign manager, Emrys Graefe, said the toilets were simply put on the street downtown with no coordination with anyone. He said it occurred close to the beginning of the protest events.
Mayoral candidate Alex Lawson at his campaign launch event on Saturday. (Arthur White-Crummey/CBC)
Self-described as the Freedom Convoy, the protest lasted from late January until late February in 2022. Large numbers of commercial trucks converged on Ottawa to oppose COVID-19 restrictions, shutting down much of downtown for weeks and disrupting life for residents.
It prompted the city and the province to declare states of emergency, while the federal government invoked the Emergency Act.
Prior to the convoy, on Jan. 18, 2022, Lawson posted on Facebook about the federal government’s policy requiring truckers to get vaccinated to continue crossing the border. He asked, “what are we going to do about it?”
A comment on his post suggested preparing “for what’s coming” and that “we need a revolution.” The commenter posted a link to the “World Wide Freedom Rally” planned for Parliament Hill on Jan. 22.
Lawson liked that comment and posted his own comment calling it “a start.”
‘Emotions were running high’
CBC asked Lawson about those posts during an interview on May 15. At the time, he said he regreted some of the profanity that appeared later in his post, but said he was concerned about the supply chain issues that the government’s action was likely to cause.
“We were front line workers and everybody’s emotions were running high at the time,” he said, noting that his framing company required lumber to build houses.
He said he can’t say why he liked a post six years ago. Asked about his feelings about the convoy, he noted that his posts were made before the convoy actually arrived in Ottawa.
“I do support people’s right to protest, but that one went too far,” he said, adding that it “became an occupation.”
Lawson’s campaign launch party attracted more than 150 people to a venue called CollabSpace, where he gave a speech detailing his priorities on transit, homelessness and other issues. His campaign manager said that it was more than 250, citing the venue owner.
It was billed as a family friendly event and featured a bubble blowing station and a clown.