Newsman: Ottawa declares a state of emergency over truckers’ growing anti-government protests. Thousands of protesters in tractor-trailers and other large vehicles have been running their engines and honking their horns day and night since descending on the city late last month. They are honking horns, blocking downtown streets and disturbing residential neighborhoods.
Mayor Jim Watson told the CBC that the emergency declaration will help police and city staff get the resources they need faster.
“We’re in the midst of a serious emergency, the most serious emergency our city has ever faced, and we need to cut the red tape to get these supplies available to our police officers and to our public works staff,” he said.
The so-called “Freedom Convoy” that arrived in Ottawa more than a week ago to protest the Canadian government’s vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers. The convoy is well-supplied with food, firewood and fuel to keep their vehicles running.
Police have seemed largely unprepared to deal with the unusual protest, NPR’s Emma Jacobs told Morning Edition from her base in Montreal on Monday (between reporting trips to Ottawa). Authorities have largely hesitated to confront protesters and their massive vehicles, not wanting anyone to get hurt, police have said.
But the situation appears to be growing increasingly untenable, with residents reporting harassment and defiant demonstrators unwilling to budge.
“This is the seat of government, where Parliament meets and government offices are, but it’s also a residential neighborhood full of apartments where people have been going about their lives in what the mayor called ‘a living hell,'” Jacobs explained.
“Many members of the convoy and their supporters, they insist the worst behavior and the right-wing views are really a tiny part of the movement,” she said. “At the same time, many protesters repeated misinformation and conspiracy theories about vaccines and COVID-19.”
A number of Canadian provinces require vaccine passports to access certain public spaces, and because the federal government can’t lift those mandates, Jacobs said, “It’s tough to see how this protest will end.”
Jacobs said it’s clear why the noisy protests have been so hard on residents, many of whom have said they are being confronted by convoy supporters for wearing masks.
Protesters faced little pushback from law enforcement until this weekend, when officials in the Canadian capital ramped up their response by ticketing protesters, confiscating their fuel and declaring a state of emergency.
\The protesters represent a range of ideologies and priorities, she added, with the initial anti-vaccine protest evolving into a broader demonstration against COVID-19 measures.
Many says they’ll stay put until all public health mandates are lifted, while others have called for more extreme outcomes like the dissolution of the current government. QAnon followers and people with far-right ties are also in the mix.
This weekend, protesters arrived in a few other cities, like Toronto, Edmonton, Vancouver and Quebec City. But Jacobs said police there had learned from Ottawa’s example and were able to clear people out by the end of the weekend.
Police warned that anyone trying to bring fuel or other “material aid” to protesters could be arrested.
Officers have also been handing out tickets and making more arrests in recent days.
The Ottawa Police Service said on Sunday that it had issued more than 450 tickets since the previous morning, after “demonstrators exhibited extremely disruptive and unlawful behaviour, which presented risks to public safety and unacceptable distress for Ottawa residents.”
The violations included excessive noise, use of fireworks, driving on the sidewalk, red-light violations, stunt driving and suspended licenses.
And on Sunday, the police ticketed 100 people, seized vehicles and arrested seven individuals primarily for mischief. The other notices were issued for excessive honking, driving the wrong way, not wearing seat belts, having alcohol readily available and other traffic violations.
Police added that they had responded to more than 650 calls for service since the protest began and have opened 97 criminal offense investigations — primarily involving mischief, thefts, hate crimes and property damage. The hotline for hate-motivated crimes had received more than 200 calls, which detectives are investigating.
“Intelligence and evidence gathering teams continue to collect financial, digital, vehicle registration, driver identification, insurance status, and other related evidence that will be used in criminal prosecutions,” it said, adding that police are also working with Canadian, U.S. and international security agencies to “investigate email-based threats to public officials.”
