Ariel Troster doesn’t know who she is more mad at: the local police in Ottawa, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or the truck protesters clogging her city’s streets, disrupting locals’ lives while wrapping themselves in Canadian flags.

Troster was one of the Ottawans who took to the streets over the weekend to counter-protest the “freedom convoy” that’s rolled across the country. In -22-degree Celsius weather (with the wind chill), she and her fellow protesters set up counter-blockades to prevent truckers from getting downtown, where 50,000 residents have become fed up with the constant noise, late-night honking, social disruption and sleep deprivation.

Troster is livid that this was allowed to happen in the first place, that her wife was threatened on the street and that her daughter, who goes to school in the neighbourhood, is now is afraid of people carrying Canadian flags. She joins to detail what life has been like in the mess that has taken over downtown Ottawa for over two weeks.

What we talked about:

• Watch Absolutely Canadian – Just As I Am: The Shira Choir on CBC Gem.
• Watch a video of the counter-protesters in Ottawa on TheCJN’s YouTube channel.

Credits

The CJN Daily is written and hosted by Ellin Bessner (@ebessner on Twitter). Victoria Redden is the producer. Michael Fraiman is the executive producer. Our theme music is by Dov Beck-Levine. Our title sponsor is Metropia. We’re a member of The CJN Podcast Network; find more great Jewish podcasts at thecjn.ca.