Workers have installed new fencing in front of Parliament as Ottawa police say actions to remove "Freedom Convoy" demonstrators from the city’s downtown core will happen within days.
Large numbers of police officers in yellow vests have been seen downtown handing more leaflets to protesters, warning them to leave or risk being arrested.
The move comes after Ottawa police handed out notices on Wednesday, warning demonstrators that anyone blocking streets or assisting those in doing so is committing a crime.
Protesters have camped out for weeks on Wellington Street, where Parliament is located, and in surrounding neighbourhoods to protest vaccine mandates and pandemic restrictions. Demonstrators also havexjmtzyw used a parking lot east of the downtown as a supply yard.
The city is now preparing for its fourth straight weekend of demonstrations.
- Live updates: Latest from the convoy protest in Ottawa
Interim Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell, who replaced former police chief Peter Sloly this week following his resignation, told city council on Wednesday afternoon that the police plan "will take time" but Canadians can expect to see action "in the coming days."
"Every step will be considered and methodical," he said. "Some of the techniques we are lawfully able and prepared to use are not what we’re used to seeing in Ottawa, but we are prepared to use them and whatever means necessary to bring about the safest outcome and restore order."
The Ontario Provincial Police and RCMP are currently aiding Ottawa Police through a newly established integrated command centre.
Bell also urged demonstrators to leave on their own accord.
"This is an operation that will take time over a number of days to actually execute and achieve. Again, my deep desire is people leave our city," he said.
"Those that are occupying our city, get in your vehicles and go home. We’re starting to actually increase pressure on them and encourage them to leave our streets. My absolute hope is that they do that prior to us having to intervene."
The Ottawa Police Services Board is set to have a meeting at 1 p.m. local time today to elect a new chair and vice-chair.
Meanwhile, a proposed class-action lawsuit on behalf of Ottawa residents has been expanded to include some businesses as plaintiffs and is now seeking $306 million from not only truckers but donors and others.
The latest warnings come following the federal government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act on Monday, marking the first time it has been used since becoming law in 1988.
Police say under the act, anyone coming to Ottawa to join the protests is breaking the law. However, many demonstrators refuse to leave even under the threat of losing their commercial licences or having their vehicles seized.
The city’s bylaw service also warned protesters that their animals will be "relinquished" after eight days if a person is unable to care for them due to police actions.
In a dramatic turn of events on Wednesday, Ottawa city council voted to oust the chair of its police services board, Diane Deans, while at least one councillor called for Mayor Jim Watson to resign.
Citizen appointee Sandy Smallwood, as well as councillors Rawlson King and Carol Anne Meehan, have also resigned from the board.
These developments came as sources told CTV News Ottawa that Deans and the police services board attempted to hire a new interim chief, former Waterloo police chief Matthew Torigian, without competition or informing council.
This, sources said, led Watson to lead an effort to oust Deans from the board after offering her a chance to resign.
- ‘Freedom Convoy’ protest: How did we get here?
Although Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government will not use force against protesters — a decision that would ultimately be made by police — the Children’s Aid Society of Ottawa has urged parents to make "necessary alternate care arrangements" should they be separated from their children due to police actions.
The Emergencies Act prohibits children from participating in the protests and the aid society says it will work to reunite families as soon as possible.
Police have previously estimated that as many as one in four vehicles in the downtown core have children in them.
The House of Commons is debating the use of the Emergencies Act today.
While the additional powers granted by the act are in effect, including a ban on public assemblies deemed to be unlawful and the ability to freeze protesters’ bank accounts without a court order, the House and Senate must confirm the decision to use the legislation.
The Conservatives and Bloc Quebecois have said they will not support the motion, while NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh says his caucus supports the use of the Emergencies Act but only cautiously and with restraint.
Police, members of the federal government and other officials have commonly referred to the protests as an unlawful "occupation."
Speaking in the House of Commons on Thursday about the protests, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said they are illegal and that residents have been "terrorized," including those at an apartment building that was the site of an attempted arson.
During a news conference, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said the RCMP has shared the names of individuals, businesses and crypto wallets associated with the protests with banks and accounts have been frozen.
Although she wouldn’t confirm how many accounts have been frozen, saying she did not want to "jeopardize" the work of law enforcement, Freeland told reporters that those details will be disclosed in "due course and soon."
"These measures are real, they are being used, they will have an impact and there is a really easy way to avoid being affected by these measures, and that is just go home, go back to work," she said.
As part of the emergency order, the federal government is broadening anti-money laundering and terrorist financing rules to cover crowdfunding platforms and their payment services.
Those companies are being required to register with FINTRAC, or the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, and report large and suspicious transactions. Financial institutions also will be able to report anyone believed to be involved in the blockades to the RCMP or Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
The federal government plans to put forward legislation to make the FINTRAC rules permanent.
The ongoing situation in Ottawa has continued even after blockades across the country have ended.
After officers dismantled a blockade at the Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor, Ont., and Detroit, police said on Wednesday they intercepted another suspected convoy of trucks that planned to "reoccupy" it.
Other blockades in Emerson, Man., and Coutts, Alta., have since been cleared.
Police made no arrests in Manitoba but did charge members of a small group within the larger protest in Coutts, including for alleged weapons and conspiracy to commit murder offences.
Police also arrested people in Surrey, B.C., following a protest near the Pacific Highway border crossing with Blaine, Wash.
A spokesperson for Quebec’s public security minister confirmed that provincial police are heading to Gatineau, across from the provincial border with Ottawa, to be used as needed.
Another protest is scheduled for this weekend in Quebec City.
RELATED IMAGESview larger image
Crews secure fencing to shore up the existing gates along Wellington Street on Parliament Hill, on the 21st day of a protest against COVID-19 measures that has grown into a broader anti-government protest, in Ottawa, on Feb. 17, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
Police hand out a notice to protesters on the 21st day of a protest against COVID-19 measures that has grown into a broader anti-government protest, in Ottawa, on Feb. 17, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
An Ontario Provincial Police vehicle is parked at the ongoing trucker blockade protest in Ottawa, Feb. 17, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
