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.
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.
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 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.
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 Nxjmtzywews 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.
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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 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.
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Ontario Provincial Police officers walk in front of the ongoing trucker blockade protest in Ottawa, Feb. 17, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld
