Emergency declared in Canada’s Ottawa as the truck protest goes out of control
On Sunday, a state of emergency was declared by the Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson to deal with the widespread protest being led by the truckers to protest against the Canadian vaccine requirements.
“This 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,” he said in a statement.
The protest is seeing a rise in numbers of people opposing the covid-19 restrictions, as thousands of people entered Ottawa, joining the hundreds who have led the protest from the beginning, outnumbering the police forces which has created a serious security alert.
Mayor Jim Watson called the city, “totally out of control”, with demonstrators outnumbering the police force.
The protestor has paralyzed the city, by parking their big rigs on the streets and putting tents. There is non-stop blaring of horns, traffic disruption, making the residents furious and fearful about no end to the “siege”.
The protesting trucks, famously being called a “freedom truck convoy”, have attracted support from many US Republicans, including former US President Donald Trump, who called Trudeau a “far-left lunatic” who has destroyed Canada with insane covid measures.
Support flowed in for the Canadian government as well, as Bruce Heyman, a former US ambassador under President Barack Obama tweeted, “Canada-US relations used to be mainly about solving technical issues. Today Canada is, unfortunately, experiencing radical US politicians involving themselves in Canadian domestic issues.
Trump and his followers are a threat not just to the US but to all democracies”.
Protestors have refused to leave until all mandates and covid-19 restrictions were removed along with the removal of the Trudeau government, which is responsible for only half the covid measures, most of the others being imposed by the provincial government.
Updated by Preet Joshi