In the aftermath of the 2022 Freedom Convoy protest, Ottawa moved to prevent similar future demonstrations by introducing large fines for the use of sound amplification equipment and blocking roads.

Since then, however, demonstrations against Israel routinely block streets in the downtown core and regularly feature amplification devices.

Chris Dacey, the independent journalist behind Dacey Media, covers these events in Ottawa, and joined Monday's Rebel Roundup livestream to discuss this two-tier policing with hosts Sheila Gunn Reid and Tamara Ugolini.

Recalling one instance, Dacey said he's seen people “being harassed by bylaw and police,” threatened with significant fines for having “a podium on a sidewalk, while Wellington Street was completely closed to traffic.”

Another example included a man holding a sign and had large cross with him, who was fined by police. The man, who Dacey said is a regular protester in the area, doesn't always receive police attention, — “but there's times where the powers that be decide, you know what, we're going to make an example.” 

In contrast, Dacey said “not once” has he seen a similar approach taken to the ongoing anti-Israel protests, despite an officer confirming the weekly anti-Israel demonstrations haven't had permits.

“If the city and police did care about downtown businesses being disrupted, they come through the heart of the Byward Market, it is the busiest tourist area in the nation's capital,” he explained.

“It's patios, it's shops, it is outdoor shops, and every weekend traffic gets really snarled all through downtown and people come through with drums and screaming and yelling” Dacey continued.

Not only do the weekly anti-Israel protests disrupt downtown, but they're also violent with those who don't “outwardly agree with them,” he said. “Happens every weekend,” the independent journalist added.

City officials, meanwhile, have shown they can enforce the laws “when they're inclined — but they choose not to.”

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