トラックデモ隊、「軍隊」式に洗練 加オタワ

【オタワＡＦＰ＝時事】元警官や元軍情報部員の協力、米国からの資金援助、十分な食料と燃料──。カナダ政府の新型コロナウイルス規制に抗議して首都オタワで２週間にわたり座り込みを続けるトラック運転手らのデモ「自由の車隊」の参加者は、長期戦の構えを見せている。その組織運営は、まるで軍隊のように洗練されていた。（写真はカナダ首都オタワの議会議事堂前で続くトラック運転手らによる抗議デモで、食事を作る参加者）
　議会議事堂の外では支援者グループが、トラック運転手らにコーヒーや卵とソーセージの食事を差し入れたり、寝床や温かいシャワー、洗濯サービスを提供したりしていた。その近くで子どもたちが遊び、親はたき火を囲んで暖を取っている。
　「毎日ここに来てコーヒーを飲み、気持ちを支えてもらっている。精神的な支えだ」と、デモに参加するジョージ・ディックさんは言う。
　整備士のエリアン・ルノーさん（１８）は、午前４時からバーベキューを担当する。「軽食だけでなく、しっかりした食事が取れること」をデモ参加者は喜んでいると話した。
　オタワ警察のピーター・スローリー本部長は「デモ隊は非常に洗練されている」と指摘。「州規模でも全国規模でも強力な組織運営能力を発揮している」 と語った。

■ベースキャンプ、露店も
　議事堂から数キロ離れた野球場にデモ隊のキャンプ地が設けられ、物資の中継基地となっている。バーベキューやサウナが提供され、食料や燃料が保管されている。仮設トイレもずらりと並ぶ。
　あごひげを生やし、小さな丸眼鏡を掛けたダニエル・ガニョンさんは、プラカードやバナーを２０カナダ・ドル（約１８００円）で売る露店を出し、支援金を集めている。「運転手たちが必要とするものがあれば、何でもわれわれが調達する」
　カナダ当局はインターネット経由で集まった多額の募金を凍結したが、物資の寄付が殺到しているため、現場にほとんど影響はないようだ。
　ジャスティン・トルドー首相は１１日、支援金の半分は米国から送金されたとの見方を示した。ドナルド・トランプ前大統領やテッド・クルーズ上院議員ら米国の保守層は、デモが始まって早々にトラック運転手を「英雄」「愛国者」などとたたえ、支持を表明している。

■元警官・兵士も参加
　オタワ大学のマルセル・シャルトラン教授は、トラックデモについて「米国内のグループから何らかの指示を受けているようだ」とＡＦＰに語った。ただ、背後に誰がいるのか、何を目的としているのかなどは不明だという。
　新型コロナウイルス規制に反対しているカナダの現役・退役警官の団体「ポリス・オン・ガード」は、デモには元警官や元兵士も多数参加し、１５０人以上が「現場で活動している」と指摘する。
　カナダ騎馬警察（ＲＣＭＰ）で首相警護を担当していたものの、新型コロナワクチン接種義務化を理由に昨年辞職したダニエル・ブルフォード氏は記者会見で、首都における「大規模事案発生時の警護活動に伴う豊富な経験」をデモ主催者と共有し、「戦術立案」に役立てたり、当局との調整を支援したりしていると語った。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】

〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/02/15-11:28）

With support from ex-police and military intelligence officers, American funding, and stockpiles of food and fuel, Freedom Convoy protesters are hunkered down for a long stay in the Canadian capital.
Their numbers have fallen from a peak of almost 15,000 when the truckers first rolled into the capital two weeks ago. At first the goal was to protest Covid restrictions although this has morphed into a broader outcry against the government.
The protesters remain firmly entrenched, despite growing calls for them to end what Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday was an unlawful demonstration and threats of jail and steep fines after a local state of emergency was declared.
Outside parliament, supporters serve up coffee, eggs and sausages to bleary-eyed truckers, while others provided them with beds to sleep in, hot showers and even laundry services. Nearby, kids played while their parents huddled by campfires to stay warm.
Every day I come here to get my coffee, to get my emotional support, my spiritual support, said protester George Dick.
These guys are awesome! I couldn't do it without them, he says of the volunteers.
Elian Renaud, an 18-year-old mechanic, has been manning a grill since 4 a.m. (0900 GMT), saying the truckers are very happy to be eating a good dinner, not just small snacks.
Nearby a plastic table is close to buckling under the weight of water bottles and soda cans, while protesters continue to ferry fuel in wagons to keep the big rigs roaring -- despite efforts by police to cut off the convoy's diesel supplies.
Ottawa police Chief Peter Sloly has said this is an entirely sophisticated level of demonstrators.
They have the capability to run strong organization here provincially and nationally, and we're seeing that play out in real-time, he told a briefing.
- Base camp -
A few kilometers away, an encampment at a baseball stadium is being used as a staging area. An AFP journalist saw barbecues, saunas and stockpiles of food and fuel, as well as rows of portable toilets.
Daniel Gagnon, sporting a goatee and small round glasses, set up a booth to sell signs for Can$20 dollars (US$16) to raise funds for the truckers.
If a truck driver needs something, no problem, we find it, he says. Everywhere, there is food. It's free. If anything is missing, people can call, we'll help them out.
Canadian authorities' freezing of millions of dollars raised online for the protesters seems to have had little impact as donations of goods pour in.
Started at the end of January, they had raised more than Can$10 million on GoFundMe, before the donation page was removed for violating the crowdsourced fundraising site's terms of service that prohibit user content that reflects or promotes behaviour in support of violence.
A subsequent campaign launched on the Christian site GiveSendGo raised several million dollars, before it too was frozen by the Superior Court of Ontario.
Scott Holt, 58, who's been sleeping in his truck since the protest began, shrugged it off.
I'm getting financially supported... I need food, I've got that. I need fuel, the organization supplies the fuel. Somehow, someway they always get me fuel. What more do I need? he said.
On Friday, Trudeau indicated that half of the donated funds supporting the trucker convoy has come from US sources.
From the start, the protestors received the backing of American conservatives, including former president Donald Trump and Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who called the protesters heroes and patriots.
- Tripping up authorities -
Marcel Chartrand, a professor at the University of Ottawa, told AFP the protesters appear to be getting some direction from groups in the United States.
But there are still a lot of unanswered questions, he said. How's this organization being supported? How is it influenced? Who are the people behind it... and where is it going?
Among the protestors are a number of retired cops and soldiers -- more than 150 with boots on the ground, according to Police on Guard, a group opposed to Covid health restrictions. It also broadcasts videos of the demonstrations, according to its website.
Daniel Danny Bulford, a former Mountie on the prime minister's security detail, told a news conference he's been sharing his extensive experience in protective operations for large scale events in the capital including tactical planning with protest organizers, and helping to liaise with authorities.
He quit the RCMP last year over mandatory Covid vaccines, he said.
Chartrand noted that the protesters don't use mainstream social media and rely instead on walkie-talkie app Zello to evade police barricades, or secure messaging app Telegram to plan solidarity protests, for example, and they shun mainstream media.
It makes it hard to follow them, he said, and has allowed the protesters to circumvent efforts by intelligence agencies and police who too often have been finding out a bit too late to react and put a stop to, for example, the closing of the Ambassador Bridge, a key Canada-US trade corridor.