Should convoy protest supporters be disqualified from being mayor? | Opinion

Demonstrators gather at the National War Memorial during the 'Rolling Thunder' protests on April 30, 2022 in Ottawa. Photo by DAVE CHAN /AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES

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Here’s a question for Ottawa residents: Should someone who supported the Convoy protest in 2022, be disqualified from being mayor?

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In particular, does it matter – or should it matter – that Alex Lawson supported the Convoy protest that shut down downtown and scarred many residents?

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The issue has become the subject of some online debate for months, and I have received emails from readers lamenting the fact that Lawson is in the race, and worse, appears to be doing well. “Please remember Alex Lawson was a convoy supporter… Alex Lawson should not be leading this city,” one reader wrote, typical of other emails.

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Indeed, as polls show Lawson picking up support, and cementing his position as a serious candidate, his past actions are coming back to haunt him. And it is fair, therefore, to ask whether mere support for the Convoy protest disqualifies one from being mayor.

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Lawson was exercising his rights as a Canadian citizen when, four years ago, he supported the trucker protest. And clearly he has met the rules required to run for mayor.

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But for Ottawa residents, the convoy was much more than a mere exercise of the right to protest against the federal government. It was a traumatic experience for many. The protesters and their trucks descended on Ottawa and began their protest from about Jan. 29, and the city was basically under siege until the protest ended on Feb. 21 after the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act. For three weeks, people’s lives were turned lives upside down, leaving deep social and economic scars. Some residents faced harassment and intimidation; others were trapped in their own homes, unable to access vital health services. Downtown businesses lost millions in potential revenue.

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There is some evidence that Lawson supported the Convoy protest. An Instagram post in Feb. 22, 2022, showed Lawson delivering potable toilets to the protesters. In a Facebook post on vaccine mandates a month before the protesters hit town, Lawson asks, “What are we going to do about it?” Someone responds, saying a “revolution” is needed. Lawson replies “It is a start.”

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Alex Lawson told me by email that he had nothing to do with the Convoy protest, and his involvement was only humanitarian. He said rivals are merely trying to throw some dirt against him for political reasons.

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“I had no involvement in the protest. People were defecating in buckets on the streets so I delivered some portable toilets to keep the city clean,” he wrote. “There just really isn’t much more to say. If this is the only thing that the opposition can attack me on, I must be doing pretty well.”

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There is no indication that Lawson participated in any act of intimidation or lawlessness. So, why should he be punished for the mere exercise of his rights? However, given the agony Ottawa residents went through during the protest, it is understandable that some cannot bring themselves to vote for someone they believe to be culpable for their suffering.