A core group of protesters in the nation’s capital continue to defy calls for the trucker convoy to go home as Ottawa remains under a state of emergency.
Speaking at an update Tuesday, Ottawa Police Service Deputy Chief Steve Bell said the force’s “surge and contain” strategy continues in an “all out” effort to end the occupation in the downtown core.
“We’re working to ensure we’re enforcing the order,” Bell said, referring to the injunction that was granted Monday to halt the incessant truck horns. “As more resources become available to us we will focus on using them on the unlawful demonstrators whom have chosen to remain in our city.”
Bell said police have made 22 arrests, issued more than 1,300 tickets and have 79 ongoing criminal investigations, adding that officers have seized fuel and cut off financial and logistical support to the occupation.
“I also want to be clear we are not just dealing with demonstrators in Ottawa,” he continued. “Yesterday with the Ohio police, we were able to trace, identify and arrest someone for calling in fake threats designed to deceive and distract our emergency resources.”
Bell described the remaining protesters as “highly determined and volatile,” and said they have attempted to subvert police efforts. He noted an officer was swarmed in a “attack while trying to seize fuel.”
Bell also said police intelligence had determined nearly 25 per cent of the trucks encamped on Ottawa streets have children living in them who “could be at risk in a police operation.”
Responding to a question from reporters, Bell said police were working with the Children’s Aid Society to ensure the kids have access to proper sanitation and are safeguarded from concerns over noise, fumes and cold weather. There are no plans to remove the children from the trucks, he said.
“Our message to demonstrators remains the same, don’t come,” Bell said. “If you do, there will be consequences, including financial consequences, for your illegal and unlawful behaviour.”
At an “emergency press conference” held by some of the protest organizers on Monday night, a spokesperson proposed the truckers would be willing to form a coalition with opposition parties and the Governor General of Canada, in an apparent variation of the Canada Unity MOU that was circulated prior to the convoy’s arrival in Ottawa.
The group said they booked an Ottawa hotel room on Tuesday to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, despite his declining to meet with or acknowledge the protest organizers, let alone negotiate.
However, associate professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa Michael Kempa said that while some of the protesters’ demands centre around the repealing of vaccine mandates, there are groups, such as Canada Unity, who have a deeper political agenda.
“Underneath that layer of protest there are other political demands… include dissolving the current government and installing some ort of coalition between the Senate, the Governor General and Canada Unity themselves,” Kempa said on CTV News Channel Tuesday. “You can only negotiate with people who have legitimate democratic political aims… No other external party can become part of a coalition government, that’s just not how a constitutional democracy works.”
Kempa said the protesters’ political demands are a “non-starter.”
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendocino said at a briefing Tuesday that “what began as an interruption has become an occupation,” including what he described as flagrant expressions of hate, harassment and even violence towards Ottawa residents.
“Since the beginning, the federal government has been there to support the city and the police in Ottawa,” he said in French. “We have provided additional resources, including RCMP officers… and the commissioner is working closely with the Provincial Police of Ontario and the City of Ottawa to see how we can further support their efforts. Progress has been made.”
Ottawa Police Service Board Chair Diane Deans said on CTV News Channel Tuesday the protesters are “well organized, well funded and seem to have significant strategy.”
“We will continue to work at this, but I continue to think the upper tier governments will come to our aid,” Deans said of Ottawa’s pleas for more resources to address the convoy and “put down this insurrection.”
“Our city has been under siege, our residents have been treated abysmally,” she said. “We all want this to come to an end.
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The Ottawa Police Service estimate approximately 500 trucks and personal vehicles remain in the “red zone” or downtown core of the city, making parts of the capital inaccessible.
- Recap: Day 11 of Ottawa trucker protest
Some businesses in the core area remain closed, including the Rideau Centre Mall, as well as the Canadian History Museum, the Canadian Museum of Nature and the Canadian War Museum.
On Monday, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson sent letters to Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saying the protest had turned into a “siege of our downtown area,” and asked the provincial and federal governments for an “immediate injection of additional officers.”
Watson asked for 1,000 regular officers, 600 public order officers, 100 investigative officers and 100 civilian staff, as well as “supporting resources.”
Ottawa city council also voted on Monday to ask the province to draw up legislation that would grant them the ability to charge the protesters for the costs of the demonstrations, which police estimate are as high as $2.2 million per day.
- Read more: Trudeau says convoy ‘has to stop’
INJUNCTION GRANTED IN CLASS-ACTION LAWSUIT
Downtown Ottawa residents had their day in court Monday, when Superior Court Judge Hugh McLean heard the arguments to grant an injunction to end the incessant honking from the convoy protesters which spurred the $9.8 million class-action lawsuit. McLean granted an injunction for 10 days.
Lead plaintiff in the class action suit, Zexi Li, described the current living situation for residents in downtown Ottawa as “unbearable.”
“There are people who have had to evacuate their homes because they can’t stand the noise because it is literally, quite literally, torturous to us,” Li told CTV News Channel on Monday. “And we are not going to stay quiet anymore because people need to understand the real damage this is doing to real people.”
BORDER CROSSINGS BLOCKADED, SOLIDARITY MOVEMENTS CONTINUE
While the main convoy protest has been centred around Ottawa’s downtown and Parliament Hill, across the country smaller demonstrations have taken place in solidarity with the “Freedom Convoy.”
Monday saw protesters block two of the three lanes on the Canadian side of the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor, Ont., which connects Canada to the U.S. through Detroit.
Windsor Police announced on Twitter that traffic can pass through to Ambassador Bridge from the Wyandotte Street West entrance on Tuesday morning, as protesters remain.
Speaking to reporters in the West Block Tuesday, Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra said the blockade at the Ambassador Bridge has “serious implications” for the economy and Canada’s supply chain.
“I’ve already heard from automakers, heard from food grocers, this is a really serious cause for concern,” he said, adding that he hopes the desmonstration stops soon.
Alghabra said that he had reached out to the Ontario government and the MP for Windsor-Tecumseh Irek Kusmierczyk to offer support, but reiterated that the blockade is a municipal and provincial matter in their jurisdiction.
The blockade at the Coutts, Alta., border crossing has once again prevented traffic from passing through, with the Alberta RCMP tweeting Monday evening both lanes were blocked and for motorists to avoid the area.
Solidarity protests were held in Quebec City and Toronto over the weekend, with hundreds of people and several trucks blocking streets and rallying for the end of mandates.
In Toronto one man was arrested for mischief and xjmtzywfor bringing a smoke bomb to the protest, police said. Health care workers held a counter protest in Toronto to show support to colleagues, some of whom were warned not to wear scrubs or identifying items that may mark them to anti-mandate protesters.
Three arrests were made at the Quebec City trucker protest held outside of the National Assembly, and one vehicle was towed.
Over the weekend, 100 or so protesters surrounded the house of New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs and chanted, sang and yelled about restrictions and lockdowns.
A convoy also made its way through Halifax, escorted by police, and on Canada’s West Coast, a convoy and counter protest saw five people arrested.
Internationally, other convoys have taken place with similar messaging to the one in Ottawa.
New Zealand saw hundreds of people protesting COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates Monday and a similar protest occurred in Australia in a convoy to Canberra.
Alaska truckers formed a convoy in solidarity with their Canadian counterparts in protest of vaccine mandates.
RELATED IMAGESview larger image
A protester walks along the sidewalk in front of the Parliament buildings, Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2022 in Ottawa. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld)
