‘Election Convoy’ Booted Out of Arnprior Truck Stop
Election Convoy relocates meeting to public parking lot on other side of Arnprior
The so-called “Election Convoy,” which is plotting nation-wide traffic jams in an effort to pressure Justin Trudeau to end the prorogation of parliament and call an early election, has hit a slight bump in the road.
A strategy session for the Election Convoy’s upcoming “slow roll” into Ottawa was cancelled last minute this week after a truck stop in Arnprior, Ontario told organizers they’re not allowed to plan convoys on their property.
According to convoy organizers, the strategy session was forced to relocate to a public parking lot on the other side of Arnprior.
Arnprior “meet and greet” cancelled:
In an update this week, “Qweenie,” a lead organizer of the Election Convoy, informed supporters that a “meet and greet” scheduled to take place at the Antrim Truck Stop in Arnprior was cancelled after the owner approached her and said the convoy isn’t welcome on his property:
“I’m here at the truck stop and the owner came to my table to chat and tell me that he’s had a real hard time with what is going on and isn’t allowing the meeting to happen here.”
Qweenie directed convoy supporters to a “new spot” at 348 Keatly Road in Arnprior, which, in case you’re curious, is a park and ride owned and operated by Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation.
Truck stop wants no involvement with convoy
Kim Orr, a co-owner of the Antrim Truck Stop in Arnprior, told ConvoyWatch her business is not involved with the Election Convoy and has been in contact with local police about the matter:
“We have met with local police to minimize any involvements. Our private business cannot be involved in any convoys / protests, etc.
Our address should not be used for any convoy.”
Located 40 minutes west of Ottawa, the Antrim Truck Stop has been used as a staging area by convoy groups multiple times in the past:
In 2019, 85 vehicles with the Yellow Vest “United We Roll Convoy” reportedly spent the night at the truck stop before driving into Ottawa.
In 2021, 25 vehicles associated with James Bauder’s “Convoy for Freedom,” a precursor to the “Freedom Convoy,” reportedly used the truck stop as a staging area. Bauder’s group was “asked to vacate” the truck stop after they were found using barbecues, setting up tents and holding an unauthorized event on the truck stop’s property.
A few months later in 2022, the first wave of Freedom Convoy vehicles spent the night at the truck stop before heading into Ottawa. Following the invocation of the Emergency Act, convoy leader Pat King called on the Freedom Convoy to “retreat and regroup” at the Antrim Truck Stop in Arnprior: “You are to pull into the Antrim Truck Stop and await orders.”
The truck stop’s owners have previously insisted they are politically “neutral,” but emphasized they’ll serve any customer so long as they “follow the rules.”
Election Convoy organizers vow to use truck stop as a staging area anyway
Despite the Antrim Truck Stop giving clear notice that convoys are not welcome on their property, Election Convoy organizers are telling supporters to gather at the truck stop anyway before a planned “slow roll” to Ottawa this weekend:
“We are still meeting at Arnprior truck stop the owner is not very happy but if he doesn’t allow us to park there then we park on the shoulder of the road by the truck stop.”
According to a map distributed by Qweenie, the Election Convoy plans to drive east down Ottawa’s Queensway, exit at Kent Street, then drive several blocks north to Parliament Hill on Wellington Street, before looping back up to the Queensway via O’Connor and exiting the city heading west back into the Ottawa Valley.
Organizers plan to maintain speeds of 60 km/h throughout the “slow roll”:
“What it does is it slows down the rest of the traffic so they wonder ‘what the hell is going on?’ … It’s to slow down the traffic to bring awareness to what we’re doing.”
The map itself appears to date from around the 1960s, making reference to the “Royal Ottawa Sanatorium” (former name of the Royal Ottawa Hospital which has not been used since 1969) and the long closed Champlain High School in Westboro (which first opened in 1963).