Downtown restaurant hopeful weekend’s motorcycle convoy will cause ‘minimal’ disruption

One restaurant owner in downtown Ottawa is optimistic that the “Rolling Thunder” convoy won't leave as huge of an impact on businesses as the so-called “freedom” convoy had back in February. 

Sarah Chown, the managing partner at the Metropolitan Brasserie Restaurant located on Sussex Drive, told The Sam Laprade Show on Wednesday, April 27, that she's heard from others in the business community who feel a similar way.

“I think there's a little bit of concern, but (everybody) seems to, sort of, be on the same level, that we feel a lot more confident, that the disruption is going to be minimal, that we're not going to see this roll over into next week,” she said. “It sounds like a very different protest than the last one, so our concerns are minimized in comparison to what we have been through.” 

There are feelings of déjà vu for Chown, but she notes that it's “substantially different” from what her restaurant and her staff experienced during the last convoy. 

Chown, who is also Ottawa Chair of the Ontario Hotel Motel and Restaurant Association, explains that one of the reasons she's optimistic is because of the transparency from the Ottawa Police Service from the very beginning on their plans to handle the convoy. 

“I feel like the communication and engagement from the police that we've seen in the last sort of, five days or so — around their actions and what we're going to see from them over the weekend — seem promising to me, compared to what we saw the last round.” 

Regardless, Chown remains optimistic that the noise level won't be too loud, even as OPS estimates there could be approximately 500 motorcycles making their way into the downtown core this weekend. She says she'll be keeping an eye on the volume, in hopes that people will still be able to enjoy the patio weather.

Listen to Sarah Chown's full conversation on The Sam Laprade Show here: