Canadian Tire fenced off parking lot to stop protestors in Niagara Falls

Niagara | Niagara Falls | Business | Community |

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Published May 21, 2023 at 10:35 am

To stop another anti-Trudeau "Freedom" protest, the Canadian Tire in Niagara Falls on Morrison St. fenced off their parking lot last night. (Photo: Caryma Sa'd Twitter)

The Canadian Tire at 7190 Morrison St. in Niagara Falls threw up the fences last night (May 20) after hearing the anti-Trudeau “Freedom” protestors were headed their way.

A similar protest was held at a Canadian Tire outlet at 2510 Hyde Park Gate location in east Oakville last Saturday (May 13), causing at least one restaurant in that mall to shut down for the evening out of concern for their customers’ safety.

Last night, the Canadian Tire on Morrison in Niagara Falls took no chances, erecting temporary fencing around their parking lot so the protestors couldn’t gather.

The organized gatherings against the prime minister and his government have been taking place in Canadian Tire parking lots across the country and questions were raised about whether the company endorsed the controversial rallies.

Especially after online promotions of the event appeared with an unauthorized use of the Canadian Tire logo with the movement changing their corporate logo to read “Canadians Tired”.

“Canadian Tire is not affiliated with this event and permission for use of the parking lot for this activity has not been granted,” the company tweeted ahead of the planned “party” at their 2510 Hyde Park Gate location in east Oakville last Saturday (May 13).

At the rally in Oakville, videos on Twitter and Facebook showed scenes of people dancing to music, waving flags and carrying around signs with profane language aimed at the Canadian Prime Minister and members of the Liberal Party.

The great majority of responses online after lawyer-activist Caryma Sa’d posted Twitter videos about the fenced-off measures in Niagara Falls last night were positive about Canadian Tire’s action with just a small handful insisting they’d never shop at the chain again.

One response used the fencing out to humourous ends, “They could have used spike belts. Think of all the tires they’d sell.”

While the chain has responded several times about last weekend’s Oakville protest, they have not said anything officially about the fencing at the Niagara Falls store last night.

~ With files from Gene Pereira

 

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