A surprise protest by Ottawa taxi drivers backed up traffic in and around Carleton for several hours Thursday night, as Ottawa police responded to the scene to clear the traffic jams.
Airport taxi drivers staged the protest at rush hour and reduced traffic to a single lane on Bronson at Sunnyside.
Abdul Nasser Shehab, a taxi driver, said the protest was in front of Carleton because of injunctions preventing them from protesting closer to the airport.
“We have an injunction on Aug. 14 preventing us from protesting at the airport,” he said.
“So we took it to the airport parkway where we have another injunction by the City of Ottawa to block the roadways on the parkway,” Sheaba said.
“So now no one is listening. We’re here today away from the boundary of the injunction, trying to protest, trying to get our voices out,” he said.
Fourth-year journalism student Caitlin Hart said the protest was a major inconvenience for students.
“The bus [usually] takes about 10 minutes,” Hart said. “It was an added 40 minutes to my commute.”
