No children of protesters taken into protection, say officials
Nicole Williams | CBC News | Posted: February 21, 2022 9:00 AM | Last Updated: February 21, 2022
Advocates warn of lingering trauma for children brought to occupation
All the children brought to the occupation in downtown Ottawa were still with their parents as of Sunday, despite widespread arrests over the weekend, according to the Children's Aid Society of Ottawa (CASO).
Police began descending on hundreds of protesters Friday, many of whom had been entrenched in the city's downtown for more than three weeks.
To the alarm of onlookers, some children remained front-and-centre of the crowds as officers pushed protesters away from the main occupation zone surrounding Parliament Hill.
While some parents involved in the protests may have been arrested, CASO executive director Kelly Raymond said Sunday no children had yet been brought into the society's care.
Police on the ground "were able to work with the parents to persuade them that this was not the appropriate environment for children and youth," Raymond said.
It's unclear how many young people were in the protest zone over the weekend, but the Ottawa Police Service (OPS) estimated at one point during the occupation that about 25 per cent of protesters had children with them.
Police confirmed Sunday there were still some kids remaining, and on Sunday evening tweeted about a small demonstration near the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway where children were present.
"We continue to urge protestors to remove their children from the unlawful protest," wrote OPS in an email.
Potentially traumatic
Raymond said CASO has been working closely with police over the last three weeks, with contingency plans in place should any kids need to be placed into its care for safety.
While that did not happen, Raymond said she's now concerned that some children might experience post-protest trauma.
"Being on the ground and seeing what everyone else was seeing was very stressful," she said. "One cannot underestimate the impact that will have on children. It was a highly, highly volatile, tense situation."
Raymond urged parents of those children to monitor for signs like irritability, an inability to sleep, and other significant changes in behaviour.
"I suspect that the children and youth who were there will probably remember this for the rest of their lives. And certainly, I'm concerned about their well-being," she said.
Risk of fines, jail time for parents
CASO put out a statement last week urging parents at the demonstration to make alternate care arrangements "should they become unable to care for their children following potential police action."
Under the Emergencies Act, anyone who brought children under 18 "to participate in an unlawful assembly" could face fines amounting to thousands of dollars or jail time.
Eric Coderre from Drummondville, Que., said Friday he believed warnings by police were simply a scare tactic to get protesters like him to leave.
"I want my kids to see [how] it's supposed to be," said Coderre, who brought both his children with him.
Another parent from Quebec City, who only offered the name Emanuelle, told CBC Friday she wanted to bring her two-year-old and seven-year-old "to support our truckers just because they're getting arrested and it's sad and heartbreaking."
While she said she wasn't afraid of being arrested, her older child chimed in with a different sentiment: "I'm freaking out."