Last month, after a public inquiry commission found that the federal government was justified in using the Emergencies Act to end the "Freedom Convoy" protests a year earlier, some social media users shared video of a large protest at a public square claiming it shows a demonstration in Ottawa against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. This is false. The footage shows a demonstration in the Spanish capital Madrid that took place on Feb. 12.
Some and users posted a video of thousands of people demonstrating in a public plaza claiming the demonstration took place outside a CTV building in Ottawa. The Twitter posts were made about protests in Ottawa on Feb. 18 to mark the first anniversary of the end of the trucker convoy demonstrations.
"Drone footage from the TRUDEAU MUST GO protests outside of CTV/POS News in Ottawa," reads the tweet.
Rating: False
An image reverse search reveals the video appears to have been originally , showing a large demonstration in the in Madrid.
The same video was shared and retweeted by social media on Feb. 12, with some that the protesters were gathered in Madrid to defend the public-health-care system and protest government plans to privatize it.
Under Twitter comments questioning the validity of the Ottawa video's description, the user, @Sheldoc4, about the video's origins.
Flag of Spain
El PaÃs, a Madrid-based Spanish daily newspaper, and included taken from the same spot as where the video was shot.
The newspaper's photo shows the same Spanish flag seen in the foreground of the video and several other Spanish flags on posts around a fountain in the middle of the plaza.
El PaÃs reported that more than 250,000 people had gathered for the demonstration.
CTV building
A of the CTV building on George Street in downtown Ottawa, where social media users claimed the video was taken, shows the area looks completely different from the one that appears in the video.
The Google Street View of the CTV building and the surrounding area show smaller and more modern buildings than those that appear in the video of the protest in Madrid. In addition, George Street in Ottawa is much narrower than those that converge at the Plaza de Cibeles.
A did stop briefly , but the gathering was not as large as the one pictured in Madrid.
Emergencies Act
The video was posted after the release on Feb. 17 of a , which found the federal government was justified in invoking the Emergencies Act on Feb. 14, 2022, to clear last winter's protests in the capital.
Justice Paul Rouleau, the commissioner of the public inquiry, found the government met the "" for invoking the Emergencies Act to remove blockades and protesters. The protests started in Ottawa on Jan. 28, 2022, and lasted for three weeks.
Sources
Claim can be found on Twitter (, ) and (), and on Facebook ()
Posts containing video of the protest in Madrid on Feb. 12 on social media can be found (, ), (), () and ()
()
(), with ()
in Ottawa ()
()
()
()
(), ()
About ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Press fact checks
You can find out more about ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø here. To reach our fact-checking team with any tips, corrections or comments, please email us at cpfactcheck@thecanadianpress.com.
