The mayor of Ottawa, judging the situation ” out of control “ in his city, paralyzed for more than a week by opponents of health measures, said Sunday ” emergency state “ in the Canadian capital and the police got tough on the protesters.
The protests, which began in Ottawa on Saturday January 29, spread to other major Canadian cities over the weekend, as dozens of trucks and protesters continued to paralyze the capital’s downtown area on Sunday. .
Mayor Jim Watson announced in the afternoon that he had declared a state of emergency in Ottawa. “due to the ongoing protest”.
This declaration “reflects the grave danger as well as the threat to the safety and security of residents posed by the ongoing protests and underscores the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government”, explains the town hall in a press release. Such a measure “also provides greater flexibility within the municipal administration to allow the City of Ottawa to manage business continuity to ensure essential services” residents, she says.
“Unacceptable” behavior
Earlier in the day, Mr Watson had judged “the situation completely out of control [à Ottawa] because it is the protesters who make the law”. “We are losing the battle, (…) we have to take back our city”, had hammered the mayor, judging “unacceptable” the behavior of the protesters, who obstruct the streets of the city center and tirelessly sound the horns of their trucks.
The Ottawa police, criticized for not having been able to prevent the paralysis of the center of the capital, for its part announced its intention to prevent the supply of the protesters, in particular with fuel. “Anyone who tries to provide material support (fuel, etc.) to the demonstrators risks being arrested. This measure is now in effect., she warned in a tweet.
The movement, called “freedom convoy”, originally aimed to protest against the decision to oblige, since mid-January, truckers to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to cross the border between Canada and the United States, but it quickly transformed into a movement against health measures as a whole and also, for some, against the government of Justin Trudeau.
The demonstrators say they want to continue their occupation until the restrictions decided to stem the spread of the coronavirus are not lifted.
Exasperated residents
During an emergency meeting with elected municipal officials, Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly complained on Saturday that he did not have sufficient resources to put an end to what he called “state of siege” and demanded “additional resources”. The Ottawa police will soon receive the reinforcement of some 250 members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), a federal police force.
Similar movements, but on a smaller scale, took place in several major Canadian cities on Saturday – Toronto, Quebec or Winnipeg – and continued on Sunday, in Quebec in particular.
In the capital of the French-speaking province, the demonstrators were fewer in number than on Saturday. Organizers, congratulating themselves that their protests were peaceful, announced that they would leave the city on Sunday evening, promising however to return in two weeks, once the carnival of Quebec, currently in progress, would be finished.
In the morning, movement organizers in Ottawa had announced, in a “goodwill gesture”, their intention to stop their horn concerts for a few hours on Sunday, to respect the “Day of the Lord”.
Some 450 tickets have been handed out since Saturday morning, including for excessive noise or the use of fireworks, Ottawa police said, adding that protesters had engaged in disruptive or illegal behavior overnight, which posed risks. for public safety or increased the “distress” of the townspeople. A hundred investigations for offenses linked to the demonstration have also been opened.
Ottawa residents exasperated by the chaos caused by the movement have launched a class action lawsuit worth some 10 million Canadian dollars (7 million euros) against the organizers.