The Iconic Cafe Evicted After Serving Truckers During Freedom Convoy Protest

Written By Wyatt Claypool, Posted on March 9, 2022

The Iconic Cafe had come under attack from both the Ottawa Police and the City of Ottawa itself during the Freedom Convoy protest around Parliament ended, because they undermined the liberal establishment’s narrative about the truckers and their supporters. 

Enrico and Deborah Kuhn, the husband and wife owners of the Iconic Cafe, ignored Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson’s request that businesses around the protest zone close while the Freedom Convoy was in the city. They both knew the truckers posed no danger to them and they desperately needed the business the truckers brought due to the past two years of restrictions and lockdowns affecting their cafe. 

By staying open the Iconic Cafe showed the narrative about the truckers being “extremists” keeping small businesses from opening was an entirely false narrative created by the city government and pushed by the legacy media.

The day after the Freedom Convoy protest was violently removed from around Parliament Hill by police, the Iconic Cafe was targeted and harassed by police for allowing truckers into their business when the mayor had arbitrarily ordered them to close.

Enrico and Deborah avoided being arrested that day, but since then they have been further punished for not complying with the city demanding them to shut down.

The landlord of the building the Iconic Cafe rents space in has apparently now arbitrarily decided to evict them for being “behind on rent” in spite of the fact that is true about many businesses around the area. It also comes after the Khuns were able to pay back over $15 000 following their business boom during the Freedom Convoy 

The Youtube channel Live From The Shed discussed the details of this removal yesterday during a live stream. It is clear that the issue of the rent is merely being used as an excuse to force the Iconic Cafe to move locations in retaliation for an opening while the Freedom Convoy was in Ottawa. It is unclear whether the landlord is voluntarily forcing them out or if the City of Ottawa put pressure on them to evict the Iconic Cafe.

The Iconic Cafe’s space is already being given to another business. Enrico and Deborah have to move out by the end of March but may fight the eviction based on being removed for being behind on rent while others are not being forced out despite also being behind.

The government wanted to make an example out of the Iconic Cafe, and whether by pressuring the landlord to evict them or not, it is clear the government achieved their goal indirectly to undermine the small business that stood up to them.

More details can be found in the live interview Viva Frei did with Enrico and Live From The Shed embedded in the video below.

UPDATE: The Iconic Cafe now has an official legal fundraiser on GiveSenGo in order to hire a lawyer to fight the violation of their lease agreement with the building’s landlord.

The link for the GiveSendGo is right here.

Wyatt Claypool

Wyatt is a student at Mount Royal University, where he is the president of its Campus Conservative club. In his writing, he focuses on covering provincial and federal politics, firearms regulation, and the energy sector. Wyatt has also previously written for The Post Millennial.

7 responses to “The Iconic Cafe Evicted After Serving Truckers During Freedom Convoy Protest”

  1. Rose H says:

    I would like to know who the owner or management company is for that building then send them a message that this is not okay in Canada

  2. Louise Madore says:

    Shame on the City of Ottawa. I, for one, cannot wait for Watson to resign or get lost for good. Punishing people for serving coffee while it’s freezing outside. Shame on Watson and his trolls. What an abuse of power and disrespect for human rights

  3. Ottawa Tax payer says:

    Shame on Major Watson, the City of Ottawa and the Ottawa Police Service, for this unacceptable form of bullying and tyrannical treatment of a hardworking business just trying to survive the hardship of covid shut down. This is NOT the Canadian compassion and hardworking common sense way of treating one another in Canada. Totally unacceptable, trusting they get a good lawyer.

  4. Justin Trudope says:

    Is there a fund to help these wonderful folks ??

  5. Anastasia says:

    I thought the narrative from the government had been that businesses downtown were not able to operate because of the truckers. What a bunch of liars!

  6. Jeffery Gilbert says:

    Now there is a ridiculous lawsuit against the convoy alleging that businesses were forced to close while the truckers were in town.
    The convoy could have been a financial windfall for the city of Ottawa. The city chose otherwise.
    The award for the dumbest cluck of the decade goes to Mayor Jim Watson.

  7. Elizabeth Robb says:

    What sad world we live in 😡🥵🥵😡😡