Newsman: All border crossings to the US were open for the first time in more than two weeks of unrest, centering attention on the capital, where drivers defiantly ripped up warnings telling them to go home. A showdown appeared to be shaping up in Ottawa’s nearly three-week siege by truckers protesting the country’s COVID-19 restrictions as police in the capital warned drivers on Wednesday to leave immediately or risk arrest. The warnings came two days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the emergency law to try to break the protests. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, he’s invoking the Emergencies Act for the first time in Canada’s history to give the federal government temporary powers to handle ongoing blockades and protests against pandemic restrictions. The unprecedented deployment of the Emergencies Act gives police more tools to restore order in places where public assemblies constitute illegal and dangerous activities, such as blockades and occupations.
“It is no longer a lawful protest at a disagreement over government policy. It is now an illegal occupation. It’s time for people to go home” Prime Minister Trudeau said. He said the invoking the Emergencies Act also will enable the RCMP to enforce municipal bylaws and provincial offences where required.
“It’s not for politicians to tell police when and how to do things. What we have done with the emergency act is to make sure the police have the necessary tools,” Trudeau said Wednesday.
“It’s something that I like all residents of Ottawa, hope to happen soon.
“It is now clear that there are serious challenges to law enforcement’s ability to effectively enforce the law,” Trudeau told a news conference Monday afternoon.
But the bumper-to-bumper occupation has infuriated many Ottawa residents, who have complained of being harassed and intimidated on the clogged streets. The rising frustration cost Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly his job this week.
Since late January, protesters in trucks and other vehicles have jammed the streets of the capital and obstructed border crossings. The demonstrations by the self-styled Freedom Convoy initially focused on Canada’s vaccine requirement for truckers entering the country but soon morphed into a broad attack on COVID-19 precautions and Trudeau himself.
The big rigs parked outside Parliament represented the movement’s last stronghold after demonstrators abandoned their sole remaining truck blockade along the U.S. border.
On Wednesday, protesters who had stopped traffic and trade for a week along the U.S. border at Emerson, Manitoba, opposite North Dakota, pulled away in tractors and trucks without any arrests. Within hours, the crossing was fully open with no delays for commercial trucks, border officials said.
Meanwhile, the premiers of two Canadian provinces and 16 U.S. governors sent a letter to Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden calling on them to end their nations’ vaccine mandates for truckers crossing the border.
Authorities in yellow “police liaison” vests went from rig to rig, knocking on the doors and handing truckers leaflets informing them they could be prosecuted, lose their licenses and see their vehicles seized under Canada’s Emergencies Act. Police also began ticketing vehicles.
One protester shouted, “I will never go home!” Some threw the warning into a toilet put out on the street. Protesters sat in their trucks and honked their horns in a chorus that echoed loudly downtown.
The protests have drawn support from right-wing extremists and have been cheered on and received donations from conservatives in the U.S., triggering complaints in some quarters that America and its pandemic politics have been a bad influence on Canada.
Protest organizers encouraged supporters to come to the capital to make it difficult for police to clear them out. But the nation’s top safety official warned them to stay away or face legal consequences.
Over the past weeks, authorities hesitated to move against many of the protesters around the country, citing in some cases a lack of manpower and fears of violence.
About 360 vehicles remain in Ottawa, down from 4,000
Police in the capital appeared to be following the playbook that authorities used over the weekend to break the blockade at the economically vital Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit. Police there handed out leaflets informing protesters they risked arrest.
As of Tuesday, Ottawa officials said 360 vehicles remained involved in the blockade in the city’s core, down from a high of roughly 4,000.
After many of those demonstrators left, police moved in and arrested dozens who remained. The blockade had disrupted the flow of goods between the two countries and forced the auto industry on both sides to curtail production.
An Ottawa child welfare agency advised parents at the demonstration to arrange for someone to take care of their children in the event of a police crackdown. Some protesters had their youngsters with them.
