Ottawa Mayor Tells CFRA Truckers "Out of Control"

Daily Mail composite graphic 2/7/22

Ottawa announced a “state of emergency” Sunday after hundreds and sometimes thousands of protesters, many in big-rig trucks, disrupted the capital city for the second weekend in a row, reports The Washington Post.

“Declaring a state of emergency reflects the serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents posed by the ongoing demonstrations and highlights the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government,” Mayor Jim Watson said in a late-afternoon announcement.

Earlier in the day, Watson pleaded for help, saying authorities were “outnumbered” and are “losing this battle” against the raucous demonstrators. The city’s police department also warned Sunday that anyone attempting to bring “material” support to the trucks, including gasoline, would be subject to arrest. Throughout the protests, people had been seen lugging cans of gas to keep the blockade trucks’ engines running.

Protests over coronavirus public health measures Saturday and Sunday included the large-scale road blockades, shooting off fireworks, driving on sidewalks, high-decibel nonstop horn-honking by truckers and what the Ottawa Police Department called other forms of “extremely disruptive and unlawful behaviour.” “We continue to advise demonstrators not to enter Ottawa, and to go home,” the department said in a statement.

Demonstrations in solidarity with the self-described “Freedom Convoy” also broke out during the weekend in other cities across Canada, including Toronto, Quebec City and Vancouver.

In Alberta, the blockade of an important U.S.-Canada border crossing also continued. Some protests drew counterprotests.

What stood out in public officials’ comments was their sense of helplessness.

“The situation at this point is completely out of control because the individuals with the protest are calling the shots,” Watson, the mayor, said in a radio interview Sunday on CFRA 580 AM.

CFRA Live – ‘The individuals of the protests are calling the shots’: Mayor Watson speaks after protestors flood Canada’s Capital on Saturday https://t.co/tnKsogD2Lp

— Tom Benson (@Tombenson1) February 7, 2022

Marco Mendicino, Canada’s public safety minister, told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. on Sunday that most Canadians and truckers are vaccinated and that the government has been having conversations with the city about possible supports for businesses that have closed because of the protests.

“The convoy can disagree, but they’re not above the law,” he said, “and there should be a peaceful resolution as quickly as possible.”