Canadian Towing Company will ignore Trudeau’s order to disrupt trucker protests

The CEO of a towing company plans to ignore Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s order for towing companies to disrupt truckers protesting vaccination mandates.

Trudeau, who has invoked emergency powers for the first time in 50 years, has faced a backlash over his directives, which include towing companies forcing their employees to remove trucking rigs or face loss of federal contracts and other penalties.

So far, there is little evidence that towing companies are complying with Trudeau’s orders.

in an interview with Newsweek, Ibrahim Masir, CEO of Alliance Towing in Ottawa, Canada, said the government had put small businesses in a terrible position. He described it as a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” place.

“It’s a position no small business wants to be in and we’re here because of government measures.”

Masir went on to mention that the current situation with the truckers’ protest is a problem created by the government, and it is a problem that Canada and the military should be tasked with addressing. However, he mentioned that his position should not be interpreted as being for or against the trucker’s protest.

A first-generation immigrant, Masir said he was simply looking to run his small business to earn a living for himself and his employees.

“I started this business from scratch. I’m just looking for the opportunity to create jobs. No one talks any longer about the unnecessary stress lockdown restrictions have placed on businesses. Sixty-six percent of Canadians support removing all warrants. »

Additionally, Masir said the safety concerns surrounding the removal of the trucks were too great and he would simply prefer not to get involved.

“My employees are not trained to work in this kind of environment. The liability issues associated with this situation are just too great.”

Masir also cited the stress the restrictions have put on the mental health of individuals and relationships.

On Wednesday, Ottawa police provided truckers with flyers warning them to leave the area immediately or face the possibility of arrest. Thirty-three people have so far been arrested in connection with the protest.

The Alliance Towing CEO’s refusal to sign on to Trudeau’s order is similar to the position of other companies before the order was put in place.

Earlier this month, Ottawa City Manager Steve Kanaellakos said he was having trouble convincing businesses to remove trucks participating in the protest, according to Business Insider.

“I contacted them all and they all refuse, to this day, to provide heavy tow truck work.

On February 5, Jim Watson, the mayor of Ottawa, declared a state of emergency, saying the situation had gotten out of control. By then, the truckers’ protest had reached 10 days. Police in the Canadian city also said anyone found helping truckers demonstrate was likely to be arrested.

Newsweek also contacted several other towing companies in Ottawa. Ottawa Metro Towing and Recovery, Gervais Towing & Recovery and Abrams Towing all responded “no comment”. Another company could not be reached for a response.