The Convoy-affiliated protest camp was blamed for the accident by a motorist who was involved.
Canadian Anti-Hate Network
Screen capture from a live stream of the protest camp north of Lacombe, Alberta. Source: Qweenie710/Youtube
A roadside protest encampment featuring people who attended the 2022 convoy in Ottawa has decided to disperse after being blamed for a multi-vehicle collision.
On Canada Day, three vehicles collided on Alberta’s Highway 2, north of Lacombe. Ongoing for more than three months, the site has been home to protests and a rest stop encampment ostensibly seeking to repeal the carbon tax. In practice, the protest has become home to a collection of figures from within the far-right, many of whom espouse conspiracy theories and forms of bigotry.
The RCMP has told the media that one of the people involved in the collision said the protests were partly to blame for the crash.
"It was described by one of the occupants in the collision that they were distracted by the protest," RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Troy Savinkoff told the Red Deer Advocate.
Traffic was closed to one lane and there have been no charges laid at this time related to the crash.
Much of the activity of the encampment has been live-streamed, including during the time of the accident. While the actual collision itself does not appear to have been recorded, the immediate reaction of the protesters was captured on video.
The full footage of the collision’s aftermath appears to have been deleted by the protester who posted it, but was recorded in part by activist and writer Susan v.H. Thompson, who posted clips onto X.
The footage from the live stream shows protesters walking back from the direction of the highway, though it does not show them during the time of the crash. They immediately deny they were on the highway at the time of the crash.
In a conversation with police, also recorded by a protester, the officers say that two young children were in the vehicles during the collision.
“Based on what one of the drivers said [the protests] are the reason for what happened,” the officer tells the crowd.
In another clip shortly after, a second RCMP officer says he had warned protesters that they could cause a collision shortly before the accident.
The protesters maintain they were “in the ditch” and not on the road when the incident occurred.
While many of the nationwide protest sites have been erected to protest the federal government’s tax on carbon, much of the rhetoric on the ground has little to do with challenging or changing Canada’s environmental policy and instead focuses on a wide swath of issues from vaccinations to immigration to Jews and pedophiles who protesters say control the world.
“They’re here because you guys aren’t doing your fucking job with the fucking government,” frequent protester Ron Clarke tells the police. “We got open borders and foreign interference and all I hear is ‘that’s for the higher-ups.’”
During what appears to be the same conversation with police, one man remarks on video that the “Jesuits started the whole Big Bang theory” and the woman recording adds, when you go down to the very bottom of the barrel, the rabbit hole, it's the Jews.”
"You don't tell us, you work with us. We tell YOU," Qweenie says. And then there it is. The anti-semitic root of all their conspiracy theories. CW for this. pic.twitter.com/kjUQFA5G6p
— Sisu van Hellberta (@sisuvanhell) July 2, 2024
Taking place at a provincial rest stop, the encampment had a kitchen, held musical events, shot off fireworks, and flew drones to record and share their activities all a short distance from Highway 2.
The protesters, apparently fearing legal liability after the crash, voted 15 to 7 to leave according to a video posted by one of the participants. Additional footage posted of the camp shows that most of the infrastructure and tents had been removed. Previously, vendors also sold support clothing and merchandise. Among these items were stickers, few of which had anything to do with repealing the carbon tax.
A screen capture of some of the stickers available at the Alberta camp vendors. Source: YouTube
Protesters interfering with traffic has been a constant concern with the encampment.
"The proximity to the highway and the potential for distractions does concern us," Savinkoff told the Advocate.
The protest has continued for 97 days, according to one participant, and attracted several individuals from the 2022 Ottawa convoy, including Clark, who along with several others, attracted attention in Fall 2023 when he and others attempted to form another indefinite encampment outside Ottawa.
That camp broke down after infighting and accusations of unpaid utility costs for the landowner divided the group.
Not the first problem caused by these demonstrations, in April 2024, another accident involving five tractors occurred while the vehicles were on their way to a protest.
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