‘Back to being civil’: Coutts residents continue to heal one year after border blockade
The quiet streets of Coutts are a stark contrast to one year ago, when more than 100 vehicles blocked the highway in opposition to COVID-19 measures
For a few weeks late last January and early February, the world turned its eyes to Coutts, as the story drew widespread media coverage, even as it divided the community in two.
“As a result of the blockade, I think we did everything that we needed to do,” said Keith Dangerfield, owner of Hills and Home Café and Bed and Breakfast in Coutts. “We got the attention of the world and we put Coutts on the map.”
What started as a convoy of trucks to the Sweet Grass-Coutts border quickly turned into a prolonged blockade of an international port of entry.
Demonstrators against COVID-19 restrictions shut down cross-border travel for four days, stranding snowbirds, truckers and cattle liners in the U.S.A and Canada.
The group remained set up for 18 days in the village of 250 people causing a spilt in the tight-knit community.
“The problem with any protest is there are people who come down on one side or the other and people rarely stay in the middle,” Dangerfield said. “I think, what has happened over the past year is a lot of that dividing line has disappeared and we're back to being people.”
“I own a restaurant and we rely on customers, so we’ve all come back to being civil with each other,” he added.
CHARGED
On Feb. 14, 2022, RCMP charged 13 people with mischief and four with conspiracy to kill RCMP officers after seizing guns, body armour and high capacity magazines.
On the same day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Measures Act to stop the protest at Coutts, Parliament Hill and Windsor, Ont.
As a result, the protesters in Coutts packed up and headed home, changing the mood across Alberta.
“I was an involved young man running a business, starting a family and here we are, not even a year later and my life has changed,” said Marco Van Huigenbos, a town councillor in Fort Macleod and participant in the Coutts blockade. “Not all for the worse, but it's been an interesting year to say the least.”
Demonstrators against COVID-19 restrictions shut down cross-border travel for four days stranding snowbirds, truckers and cattle liners in the U.S.A and Canada.
Van Huigenbos is charged with mischief over $5,000 related to the protests and currently awaiting trial.
RCMP allege he was a 'key participant' in the blockade, along with Alex Van Herk and Gerhard Janzen.
Despite the disruption caused to the economy, Van Huigenbos maintains the blockade needed to happen.
“We were in a dysfunctional society for quite some time being run,” Van Huigenbos told CTV. “Something had to be done and whether you agree with what happened at Coutts or not, Coutts shook things up. It woke a lot of people up.”
As protesters plan to gather in Coutts and elsewhere in southern Alberta on Saturday, residents in the village are trying to move on.
“There will still be a few who won’t move on,” Dangerfield said. “There is still some healing and I don’t think we'll ever get rid of all the things that have put us on one side or the other.”
To mark the one-year anniversary, a convoy is set to take place on Saturday. Participants will leave Lethbridge at 9:30 a.m., drive to Coutts, loop around and drive back to Lethbridge where a barbeque and speeches are being planned in the afternoon.
The streets of Coutts were quiet Friday, a year after the border blockade
The Lethbridge Police Service and RCMP are advising of possible traffic disruptions along 43 Street and Highway 4.
“Motorists can expect possible delays heading out of the city along Hwy. 4 starting at 8 a.m. Upon returning to Lethbridge, the convoy is expected to travel northbound on Howe Road/Range Road 211, turn westbound on the Jail Road, connect with northbound 43 Street and proceed westbound on 5 Avenue North ending the route along the 3200 block,” LPS said in a release. “Anyone with travel plans in those areas is advised to expect delays or consider taking alternate routes.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
For the first time in report's history, Canada's air quality worse than U.S.
Thanks to wildfires, air quality in Canada is now worse than in the U.S., according to the 6th Annual World Air Quality Report.
A newspaper says video of Prince William and Kate should halt royal rumour mill. That's a tall order
Prince William and his wife Catherine have been filmed at a farm shop near their Windsor home, The Sun newspaper reported -- the first footage of Kate since she had abdominal surgery for an unspecified condition two months ago.
'You ask for your money, they disappear': Ontario man loses $17K to AI crypto scam
A Toronto man is spreading the word of a cryptocurrency scam that lures victims using AI-generated news sites after he lost $17,000 in investments.
DEVELOPING Canada's annual inflation rate ticked down to 2.8 per cent in February, defying expectations
Statistics Canada says the annual inflation rate edged down to 2.8 per cent in February.
Hertz CEO out following electric car 'horror show'
The company, which announced in January it was selling 20,000 of the electric vehicles in its fleet, or about a third of the EVs it owned, is now replacing the CEO who helped build up that fleet, giving it the company’s fifth boss in just four years.
High thoughts: The habits of Canadian cannabis users are revealed in a new StatCan report
Statistics Canada has conducted a series of surveys to measure the impacts of legalized cannabis since the Cannabis Act took effect in 2018. The latest one, the 2023 National Cannabis Survey, sheds light on users' preferences and habits last year.
Demand soars for solar eclipse glasses in Canada. Are they worth buying?
The demand for total solar eclipse glasses used to safely view the rare celestial event has been ramping up as sellers, along with astronomy and eye-care experts in Canada, warn that viewing the eclipse with the naked eye is dangerous.
Trump says Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and their religion
Former U.S. president Donald Trump on Monday charged that Jews who vote for Democrats 'hate Israel' and hate 'their religion,' igniting a firestorm of criticism from the White House and Jewish leaders.
Toronto family doctor who called patient's body 'perfect' suspended for 3 months: tribunal
A family doctor in Toronto has been suspended for three months after a disciplinary tribunal found that he failed to follow proper protocols while examining a patient's breasts and made inappropriate comments about her body.