RCMP officer Greg (left), truck driver and protester Adrian Van Reeuwyk (right of Greg in grey), and officer Troy (right) at Coutts border protest on Saturday, February 19. (Adrian Van Reeuwyk)

By Alessia Proietti

One week later: an end without violence

Finding unity in division: RCMP officers and Coutts protesters

Feb 22, 2022 | 2:53 PM

It did not take two weeks to flatten the curve, but it did take just over two weeks for protests to end in Coutts, Alberta.

While streets are just beginning to clear in Ottawa, it’s exactly one week that the Albertan border crossing has returned to normal.

Described by some as a peaceful protest in the small western town, many are wondering, how did the illegal blockade end?

On Tuesday, Feb. 15, protestors in Coutts voluntarily disbanded. What shocked people more, was their relationship with RCMP officers. Seen in the viral video below, officers and protestors are seen sharing hugs and handshakes – a strong contrast to the current investigations of weapons, arrests, and threats.

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“It started off as going for just a drive, like a convoy to Coutts and back. A lot of us had never ever planned on staying there,” said Adrian Van Reeuwyk, one of the protestors. “Next thing you know, we’re camped out.”

Van Reeuwyk had been at the protest since day one, when it all began on Jan. 29. A vaccinated trucker from Lethbridge, his reasons for attending were to voice against pandemic measures that he says have moved beyond safety to fear and control with no end date.

“Our whole thing the whole way through was: we wanted peace. We wanted no violence. We wanted none of that and we were very adamant about that the whole time we were there,” he said.

As the protest continued in the small town of just under 250 people, Van Reeuwyk described the environment as one of “unity”. Sleeping in his truck all but one night, he described how residents brought home-cooked meals, ensured a place to shower, and sent messages of support, some even coming from the United States.

When it came to police presence, Van Reeuwyk claims not only were police respected but protected by protesters, developing a good relationship.

“They’re supposed to be doing their job,” he said.

He claims the group worked with officers to maintain safety, even exchanging personal phone numbers. He says they drove back and forth with them to Milk River, where another protest was being held and Van Reeuwyk’s brother John was keeping them updated.

Two of those officers were negotiators from Red Deer. Due to current investigations, however, they could not speak with rdnewsNOW.

RCMP Superintendent Roberta McKale, present at the protest from the beginning, agreed at the treatment from the majority of protesters towards officers.

“There was dialogue, always communication. We have members trained in diffusing situations,” said Superintendent McKale. “There were signs up saying to support the police. There was a high level of appreciation that way.”

So how did the protest turn south so quickly?

On Feb. 14 at midnight, RCMP arrested a dozen individuals, seizing firearms and ammunition. Officers also disabled protesters’ excavators after one man intimidated an officer by driving a large piece of equipment toward them.

“Someone might point to the recent charges and I say that they were the few that were causing that level of threat. There were various groups that were there at the protest for various different reasons,” said Superintendent McKale.

“We’ve been very hesitant with a lot of the media reports because they’ve been painting us as we’re some bad people. That was never the intention,” said Van Reeuwyk.

Nevertheless, the actions of a few can affect many. Van Reeuwyk admitted he started to get an “unsettling” feeling, claiming to have flagged suspicious individuals throughout the two weeks to police.

That Monday night, Van Reeuwyk states protestors began clearing the roads, as promised to officers.

By Tuesday morning, everyone began to leave.

When asked what made the protesters leave so suddenly, Superintendent McKale said she didn’t know why. They just started to trickle out, she said.

“There were a lot of outsiders,” said Van Reeuwyk. “It looked like a different atmosphere and we didn’t trust it. Before you get somebody in there that wants to create violence on an officer or create violence on us because they don’t agree with what we’re doing, we figured we better shut this down.”

Both Van Reeuwyk and McKale confirmed the scene in the video above. The relationship between RCMP officers and protestors in their goodbye: the singing, the hugging, the handshakes. Van Reeuwyk described the moment as “bittersweet”.

“Our organization is community based and we still have to police people after this event,” said Superintendent McKale. “We want to be fair and work with communities and treat people like people. We have to have relationships and we have to be able to walk away from things.”