FACT CHECK: Did Ontario Police Report 2.3 Million People Attended The Trucker Convoy Protest In Ottawa?
An image shared on Facebook claims the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) estimated 2.3 million protesters and over 100,000 trucks participated in Canadaâs âFreedom Convoyâ protest.
Verdict: False
There is no record of the alleged reports. A spokesperson from the OPP denied the claim and stated the figures were âwell off.â A spokesperson for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) likewise denied the claim.
Fact Check:
A coalition of truckers and their allies gathered in Ottawa over the Jan. 28 weekend in protest of a vaccine mandate aimed at unvaccinated truckers, according to the Associated Press. A screen grab of a text claims the OPP and RCMP estimated the protest involved 2.3 million people and more than 100,000 trucks.
âThe OPP have reported over 100,000 trucks in Ottawa, an estimated 2.3 million on foot and an âabudanceâ (sic) of trucks parked in fields just outside of the city,â reads the image in part. âRCMP reports over 130,000 trucks in the city and more than 20,000 parked in fields outside of the city.â
There is no evidence that either police force reported such estimates. Check Your Fact reviewed news releases from both agencies and found no record of such reports. Both agencies have likewise not posted any such estimates on their official Twitter accounts.
âWe can confirm that the RCMP has not provided any estimate on numbers of vehicle or demonstrators in relation to the demonstrations in Ottawa,â said an RCMP spokesperson in an email to Check Your Fact. (RELATED: Does This Photo Show Canadaâs âFreedom Convoyâ?)
The OPP likewise denied the Facebook postâs claim. âI can assure you that those numbers did not come from the Ontario Provincial Police,â said Bill Dickinson, an OPP spokesperson, in an email to Check Your Fact. âWhile we are not actually releasing any numbers, those appear to be well off of our estimates.â
While neither OPP nor RCMP released estimates on the protestâs attendance, Ottawa police said an estimated 8,000 people participated in the protest on Jan. 29, according to CBC.