On Sunday, the mayor of Ottawa Jim Watson declared a state of emergency after the ongoing anti-vaccine protests organised by the so-called ‘Freedom Convoy’ continued to wreak havoc on the residents of Canada’s capital. The protesters gathered in Ottawa are part of a group of truckers criticising Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s COVID-19 policy, particularly a vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers.
In a press release, Watson blamed the protests for endangering the safety and security of the residents, adding that a state of emergency grants government officials greater flexibility to continue essential services and also provides the police department with supplies faster. In an interview with CBC News, Watson called the situation at the capital “the most serious emergency our city has ever faced” as the protests entered the second week of bringing Ottawa to a standstill. The Premier of Ontario Doug Ford and Ontario police Chief Peter Sloly both have dubbed the protests as an “occupation.”
The Ottawa police department said in a statement that it has issued 450 tickets since Saturday to protesters for reasons including excessive noise, using fireworks, suspended licence and breaking the red light, adding that the department has also opened 97 criminal offence investigations for theft, property damage and hate crimes against them.
The police department said, “We continue to advise demonstrators not to enter Ottawa, and to go home,” as it started its crackdown on the convoy’s fuel supply. The police department warned that providing “materiel aid” to the protesters would be grounds for arrest as they seized 3,200 litres of fuel from demonstrators.
Some Truck Convoy protestors express their anger directly at police for this raid. pic.twitter.com/H8Fsfs4X93
— Judy Trinh (@judyatrinh) February 7, 2022
Unhappy with the police's decision of seizing fuel, many protesters shouted “shame, shame.”
Following appeals from the Ottawa police department, fundraising website GoFundMe halted the Freedom Convoy’s earlier campaign that had raised $9 million to sustain the protests. However, the group was soon able to raise over $2 million on an alternate platform called GiveSendGo.
Last week, Trudeau said that Canadians were “shocked” and “disgusted” at the behaviour of the protesters for displaying racist flags and desecrating the memory of veterans. Trudeau told members of the Freedom Convoy, “Do not stand for, or with, intolerance and hate.” He emphasised that the protesters do not represent the view of the majority, noting that almost 90% of Canada’s cross-border truckers have had two COVID-19 vaccine shots. The Canadian Trucking Alliance has condemned the behaviour of the Freedom Convoy members, saying, “Many of the people you see and hear in media reports do not have a connection to the trucking industry.”