‘Save the Children Convoy’ Celebrates Week 5 With Arrival of Back-Up Convoy
More ‘friends of friends’ just showed up at Chet Wiggins’ farm
The “Save the Children Convoy” just won’t go away.
As the “Save the Children Convoy” celebrates its 5th week of camping out in Eastern Ontario farm fields, the group is welcoming fresh reinforcements from Québec to bolster dwindling numbers amid in-fighting and bad weather.
Two week ago, the STC Convoy moved from an empty lot used to store “liquid organic waste” to a nearby farm owned by local hobby farmer Chet Wiggins.
After initially telling me last week he expected only a dozen “friends of friends” would be staying at his farm to fix-up his barn, Wiggins welcomed at least 44 additional out-of-province vehicles onto his property on Friday.
3-4-5 November Convoy: The STC Convoy reinforcements are almost exclusively francophones from Québec, many of whom appear to be affiliated with the “Freedom Fighters Canada” group and/or convoy leader Norman Blanchfield’s “Bridges to Freedom” group.
According to a Facebook event listing, the convoy began in the Québec City area and headed west down Québec’s Autoroute 20, with stops along the way near Drummondville, Montréal and Salaberry-de-Valleyfield.
The group’s plans remain fuzzy, beyond taking day trips into Ottawa on Saturday and Sunday. It’s not clear how many, if any, members of the group plan to stay beyond the weekend.
Giant tipi: While the camp at Chet Wiggins’ farm is similar to other rural base camps set-up by convoy groups over the last two years. In addition to a large barn and several smaller permanent and semi-permanent structures, one of the unique features of this camp is that it also features a two or three story high tipi with the flag of Canada.
Nighttime videos from the base camp show the tipi is heated on the inside using an old metal drum filled with firewood.
The tipi appears to be the first of a potential village of tipis that the STC Convoy plans to build, presumably to help them survive the winter. During construction, convoy leader Norman Blanchfield remarked: “Now we start with this one, and after that, we’re gonna make a bigger one in the back.”
Convoy campers forced to sign “liability” waivers: One unusual feature at the new base camp is a “liability waiver” agreeing not to hold the owner, Chet Wiggins, responsible for any property damage or bodily harm which may occur while camping in their farm field.
Here is a verbatim transcript of the liability waiver:
“This liability Waiver is to be signed by all visitors to Freedom Fighters Organization property located at 2624 Concession 20 Road Casselman, On.
I will not hold Danielle and Chet Wiggins responsible for any injuries, vehicle accident and damage to my property which may occur while I am visiting or staying on their premises.
Any issues that I may have during my stay at the property mentioned above need to be dealt with by the Freedom Fighters / Bridges to Freedom organization.”
Ottawa Police “monitoring” the situation: According to a statement on Twitter, Ottawa Police notified the public that it was “montoring for potential vehicle-based protests in or travelling through Ottawa in the coming days.”
“Reminder: There is zero tolerance for unlawful behaviour and vehicle-based demonstrations,” Ottawa Police added.
On their way into Ontario, at least three Sûreté du Québec police cruisers were spotted as the convoy passed through the stretch of highway between Rigaud, Québec and the Ontario border.
It’s also important to note that multiple STC Convoy members have been arrested during chaotic protests in downtown Ottawa in recent weeks and that the convoy’s leaders have openly called for politicians and police officers to be arrested.
Taken together, it seems fair to say police appear to be keeping a close eye on the “Save the Children Convoy.”