The trucks in Ottawa would be nearly impossible to tow. Here's why

Monday, February 07, 2022

Here’s what you need to know to get the day started:

The trucks in Ottawa would be nearly impossible to tow. Here's why

Heavy-duty towing experts say it will be difficult or impossible to remove the hundreds of heavy trucks entrenched in Ottawa's downtown — unless the drivers allow it. Ottawa police say 500 heavy trucks still remain in the area.

Trucker Lloyd Crowe, from Picton, Ont., has been parked just a couple of blocks away from Parliament Hill since last weekend, but he's not worried about being towed. "If you know anything about trucks' air brakes, once you pull that button, all 18 wheels are locked," Crowe told CBC News on Wednesday. "Nothing can move it, except maybe a big wrecker. And no wrecker worth his salt is going to come anywhere near this, because they're on our side."

CBC spoke to multiple towing companies across Ontario, and while many weren't willing to be interviewed, several sources said that the companies contracted by the City of Ottawa were refusing to tow trucks involved with the demonstration. The city would not confirm or deny this, saying only that its bylaw department "uses several contracted services to assist with towing vehicles throughout the city."

David Allen, president of Gary's Towing in London, Ont., said while towing a truck that doesn't want to be moved would be hard, it is physically possible — even if the air brakes are engaged. Heavy-duty tow trucks can transfer air from their system to the trucks to release the brakes, Allen said. Failing that, they could "cage" the brakes, which involves manually backing the brake off each individual wheel.

"We have all the capabilities on our tow trucks to do it ... but I don't think anyone would want to," he said. That's because many companies who provide heavy towing would be hesitant to risk their relationships with trucking companies, Allen said. The backlash against tow trucks helping clear the blockade at the border in Coutts, Alta., has dissuaded many towing companies from taking work in Ottawa, he said.

Hooking up the truck also puts the employee in a vulnerable position, as they need to go under the truck, said Randy Whan, who owns Ward's Towing in Kingston, Ont. "I honestly can't see it being done,'' he said. "Every person that would send a truck in there is putting their driver at risk for being injured ...You start removing those vehicles, you're going to have some pretty angry people."

With hundreds of trucks parked downtown, removing them all — if it could be done — would still take multiple days of round-the-clock effort. Even in a best-case scenario with driver co-operation, it would take at least 10 hours to tow just the 40 trucks on Kent Street, Whan said.

Police don't think towing the trucks is an effective solution, said Matt Skof, president of the Ottawa Police Association. "You can tow all you want — they're just going to return to the location, so it hasn't resolved the issue," Skof said. "And where are you putting all these vehicles?" Even if barriers were set up to prevent their re-entry, that would just push the problem to another part of the city, Skof said.

More on this issue

Ottawa declares state of emergency as police boost enforcement, target protest's fuel supply

VIDEO | Ottawa protest: What comes next?

Ottawa Inception: A photo of a painting of a photo of a counter-protester on the mask of a counter-protester

(Justin Tang/The Canadian Press/The Associated Press)

A masked counter-protester, in opposition to the convoy protest against COVID-19 restrictions, displays a painting made from a photograph of a woman blocking a truck from passing down a street during a gathering in front of City Hall in Ottawa on Saturday. Read the latest from the Ottawa protest here.

In brief

Canada has its first gold at the Beijing Olympics. Max Parrot won gold in snowboard slopestyle on Monday, upgrading from the silver he won at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. In between podiums, Parrot, of Bromont, Que., was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma, forcing him to miss the entire 2018-19 season. "It really just shows how anything is possible," Parrot told CBC Sports after the event. "Three years ago, I was laying down in a hospital bed, with no energy, no muscles, no cardio. And today, I'm an Olympic gold medallist and I did the biggest run of my life." Read more about his comeback from cancer here.

A Saanich, B.C., family fears they could soon be homeless due to sky-high rental prices. Since being served an eviction notice in September, Saanich resident Sandra McMullen and her husband Conan O'Dell, who have two children, have been looking for a new rental unit that can accommodate their budget of around $2,300 a month. McMullen says she was shocked when she first realized they might be homeless, given O'Dell's reliable work as a full-time arborist for the District of Central Saanich and her steady business making jewelry. The family makes just above the median income of a middle-class family in Saanich, says O'Dell. The pair say they've disputed the eviction, citing their inability to find a new place to live, with a hearing set for Feb. 10. If they lose, they'll have to be out by Feb. 12. Read more about the third-most expensive rental market in Canada here.

A St. John's mom wants Air Canada to change its policies after the airline cancelled her 14-year-old daughter's flight and left the unaccompanied girl to fend for herself, with no food or place to sleep. An email on Jan. 18 notified Diomerys O'Leary that her daughter Eva's connecting flight from Toronto's Pearson International Airport to St. John's was cancelled due to a labour disruption and rescheduled for two days later. Then came the flood of texts from her panicked daughter, saying Air Canada told her she was on her own. O'Leary found an Airbnb that would allow Eva to stay the night, booked an Uber to get her there and ordered delivery so her daughter could eat. "It was the worst day of my life," she said. Like other airlines — WestJet and Air Transat among them — Air Canada offers a for-fee service, subject to certain conditions, where staff help kids flying on their own. But that service is not available for multi-leg trips like Eva's. In those cases, the airline said in an email its practice "is to give priority assistance to certain passengers travelling with us, such as disabled, elderly and young people." But it says, that day, it was dealing with "unexpected and abrupt" flight cancellations and "hundreds of customers requiring assistance." Read more about the issue here.

The family and community of a Castor, Alta., man are in mourning after a volunteer firefighter was killed on an icy road while responding to a vehicle rollover late Friday night. Stephen Rayfield was responding to the call close to the town of Castor at around 8:30 p.m. Friday when the vehicle he was in also rolled over on the slick roads. "He just really was the best," said his wife Cheryl Rayfield. "I know everyone always says it, but he just put everyone else first all the time. He just wanted to make such a difference in his life to others." She says her husband was a hero, a "knight in shining armour," to both her and her six year-old son, Sawyer. Castor Mayor Richard Elhard said he received a call on Friday at about 8:30 p.m. that a "horrific accident" had taken place. "The community is just devastated," Elhard said. Read more about Rayfield here.

Now for some good news to start your Monday: Jessie Pruden's small beading business has taken off, and now she is heading to Paris Fashion Week to show off her beaded earring designs. Pruden, who is Métis, with roots in Stony Point, Man., taught herself how to bead less than two years ago after a knee injury forced her to leave a career in the restaurant industry. Now she runs her business, Bead n' Butter, online. Her work attracted the attention of New York-based fashion retailer Flying Solo and they offered her a spot to attend the weeklong event in Paris, Feb. 28 to March 8. "Taking my little, small business that started in my living room to Paris feels really intense and really amazing," Pruden said. "I'm really grateful to have this opportunity." Read her story and see her work here.

FIRST PERSON

I was diagnosed with an 'invisible' illness. For years, my family didn't believe my pain was real

Jason Heterlich lives with fibromyalgia, a chronic condition that causes pain throughout his entire body. Coping with the pain has been a struggle made worse because Jason's family initially had doubts about the validity of his illness. Read his first-person piece here.

Tune into the Player's Own Voice podcast daily during Beijing 2022 to hear the athletes' stories in their voices like never before. Subscribe and never miss a conversation.

Artists on Spotify are mad about more than Joe Rogan

Since Neil Young stepped away from Spotify over allegations that the platform was peddling COVID-19 misinformation, other artists have begun to speak up about their problems with the platform — problems that go right to the heart of the digital gig economy.

Artists on the platform are paid fractions of a penny per stream. And during the pandemic, when touring is near impossible, many are fed up.

We hear from Belly’s Gail Greenwood and Polaris Prize-winning artist Cadence Weapon about why there’s so much frustration with Spotify.

Then Ben Sisario, music industry reporter for the New York Times, breaks down why artists are speaking up now — and what the alternatives are.
Listen to today's episode

Today in history: Feb. 7

1792: Free land is offered to U.S. citizens settling in Canada.

1867: The British North America Act, creating the Dominion of Canada, is introduced in the House of Lords.

1986: It rains sardines in Ipswich, Australia. Scientists speculated that a violent storm caused updrafts, which lifted the fish from shallow waters and took them up into the atmosphere.

1997: A Quebec man drives a Jeep up two flights of stairs leading to the Parliament Buildings, before stopping just short of the main door under the Peace Tower. The incident caused the government to ban tour buses and unauthorized cars from Parliament Hill.