Officials in Ottawa aim to end the rowdy protests that have paralyzed the city

Officials in Ottawa aim to end the rowdy protests that have paralyzed the city

Transcript¹

NPR's Leila Fadel talks to Ottawa City Councillor Matthew Luloff about what the Canadian capital is doing to try to end the massive protests over COVID-19 mandates² and other pandemic rules.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

How to put an end to the raucous³ demonstrations⁵ in downtown Ottawa, Canada? That was the question before a special meeting of the Ottawa City Council yesterday. For more than 11 days, a convoy⁶ of trucks and hundreds of protesters have sown chaos⁷ in Canada's capital city, blaring horns, blocking streets and disrupting businesses. They're protesting vaccine⁸ mandates and other pandemic rules. Ottawa City Councilor Matthew Luloff was at the meeting yesterday, and he joins us now. Good morning.

MATTHEW LULOFF: Good morning.

FADEL: So could you paint a picture of what's going on in your downtown right now?

LULOFF: Certainly. So this began, I suppose, two Fridays ago. It was ostensibly a protest against the curtailing⁹ of civil liberties to fight this pandemic. It is a - it was a large trucker convoy that began in British Columbia, on the other side of the country, made its way through the prairies and then to the nation's capital. Along the way, it picked up quite a few people with different grievances¹⁰ with the government. And what began as, you know, this demonstration⁴ has morphed into something much uglier and much more difficult to manage than any regular protest that we may have seen in the nation's capital.

FADEL: Now, I understand you went down there yesterday morning. What did you hear from demonstrators?

LULOFF: So I went down relatively¹¹ early in the morning, you know, 10 o'clock, and we stuck around for about an hour and a half. You know, we spoke¹² with a couple of people. Most of them - or the ones that we spoke to, anyway - are looking for the government to step down. They want to speak with the prime minister, and they want the prime minister to leave his post. We just had an election in the fall. So it's discouraging when people don't, you know, have their voices heard during the democratic process. And then, you know, what we're seeing in our downtown core right now is fundamentally undemocratic and very disruptive to the people that live there.

FADEL: Let's talk about that. You described it morphing into something much more ugly. When you say ugly, describe that to me.

LULOFF: Certainly. So some of the most well-known radicals¹³ in this country have now descended¹⁴ upon the capital. Some of them are calling for violence. Some of them are threatening individual politicians. There have been, you know, threats against life and limb. And it's incredibly discouraging. We've seen some hate symbols. We've seen flyers distributed that are acutely anti-Semitic. Now, at the same time, there are people within this group that are demonstrating downtown with legitimate¹⁵ concerns, but you don't have a productive conversation at the business end of a gun or the grill¹⁶ of a semitruck. You know, when you're upset about something and you want to have your voice heard, you don't, you know, pull your vehicle up onto someone's lawn and blare your horn 24 hours a day. So it's been a very difficult 11 days, especially for the residents of our upper downtown core and center town.

FADEL: Among some of the demands by the protesters is that the vaccine mandates end nationwide. Will the prime minister give in to these demands?

LULOFF: I don't believe so. So there are two sets of mandates that are occurring here. One of those is for the general public. And there are no vaccine mandates, how - you know, for the province of Ontario, except in health care and other critical sectors¹⁷. The prime minister has aligned¹⁸ our vaccination¹⁹ policy with the United States so that cross-border truckers are required to be vaccinated²⁰. The United States is our largest trading partner, and it is important that on policy matters like this that we are aligned to ensure the proper flow of goods. And so, essentially²¹, it's the municipality that is paying for the grievances that these truckers and other miscreants²², frankly²³, have with the federal government.

FADEL: The protests have gone on a long time. Why? I know that a state of emergency was declared by the Ottawa mayor. How come it's gone on so long?

LULOFF: These large big-rigs are embedded²⁴ in our downtown core and very difficult to move at this time. So it's quite a situation.

FADEL: That was Ottawa City Councilor Matthew Luloff. He joined us by Skype. Thank you so much for joining us.

LULOFF: Thank you very much.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 mandates   

托管（mandate的第三人称单数形式）

参考例句：

• Individual mandates would require all people to purchase health insurance. 个人托管要求所有人都要购买健康保险。
• While I agree with those benefits, I'm not a supporter of mandates. 我同意上述好处，我不是授权软件的支持者。

3 raucous   

adj.(声音)沙哑的，粗糙的

参考例句：

• I heard sounds of raucous laughter upstairs.我听见楼上传来沙哑的笑声。
• They heard a bottle being smashed,then more raucous laughter.他们听见酒瓶摔碎的声音，然后是一阵更喧闹的笑声。

4 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

5 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

6 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

7 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

8 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

9 curtailing   

v.截断，缩短( curtail的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• They will be curtailing the discussions at two thirty. 他们将把讨论缩短至两点半。 来自互联网
• Individually, banks are acting rationally by retaining their capital and curtailing lending. 此外，银行们正在合理地保留其资本和减少贷款。 来自互联网

10 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

12 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

13 radicals   

n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 )；根基；基本原理；[数学]根数

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals. 一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The worry is that the radicals will grow more intransigent. 现在人们担忧激进分子会变得更加不妥协。 来自辞典例句

14 descended   

a.为...后裔的，出身于...的

参考例句：

• A mood of melancholy descended on us. 一种悲伤的情绪袭上我们的心头。
• The path descended the hill in a series of zigzags. 小路呈连续的之字形顺着山坡蜿蜒而下。

15 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

16 grill   

n.烤架，铁格子，烤肉；v.烧，烤，严加盘问

参考例句：

• Put it under the grill for a minute to brown the top.放在烤架下烤一分钟把上面烤成金黄色。
• I'll grill you some mutton.我来给你烤一些羊肉吃。

17 sectors   

n.部门( sector的名词复数 )；领域；防御地区；扇形

参考例句：

• Berlin was divided into four sectors after the war. 战后柏林分成了4 个区。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Industry and agriculture are the two important sectors of the national economy. 工业和农业是国民经济的两个重要部门。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

18 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

19 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

20 vaccinated   

[医]已接种的，种痘的，接种过疫菌的

参考例句：

• I was vaccinated against tetanus. 我接种了破伤风疫苗。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child? 你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

21 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

22 miscreants   

n.恶棍，歹徒( miscreant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I ordered the miscreants to let me out. 我命令这些土匪放我出去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Local people demanded that the District Magistrate apprehend the miscreants. 当地人要求地方法官逮捕那些歹徒。 来自辞典例句

23 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

24 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。