Ottawa mayor declares state of emergency amid paralysing anti-mandate protests

Ottawa: Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson on Monday AEDT declared a state of emergency to help deal with an unprecedented 10-day occupation by protesting truckers that has shut down much of the core of the Canadian capital.

“(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.

Police officers form a line in front of counter protesters blocking a convoy of truckers opposed to COVID-19 health measures and vaccinations, in Vancouver, British Columbia.Credit: AP

Watson, who complained earlier in the day that the demonstrators outnumbered police and controlled the situation, did not give details of what measures he might impose.

The “Freedom Convoy” began as a movement against a Canadian vaccine requirement for cross-border truckers but has turned into a rallying point against public health measures and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government.

“The convoy can disagree, but they’re not above the law and there should be a peaceful resolution to this as quickly as possible,” Canadian Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said on CBC television.

“We put the question of vaccines and vaccine mandates on the ballot ... in the (2021) election and we’re simply carrying out the promise that we made with the support of the vast majority of Canadians.”

Amid incessant horn blaring and occasional fireworks, a polished supply chain -- including portable saunas, a community kitchen and bouncy castles for children -- has sustained the protesters to the fury of residents who blame police for inaction.

The anti-COVID-19 vaccine mandate demonstrators blocked the highway at the busy US border crossing in Coutts, Alberta.Credit: AP

“The situation at this point is completely out of control because the individuals with the protest are calling the shots,” Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said on a local radio station. “They have far more people than we have police officers.”

Amid residents’ fury at the lack of official response, Ottawa police relocated some protesters and put up fresh barricades on Sunday, saying they are “collecting financial, digital, vehicle registration ... and other evidence that will be used in criminal prosecutions.”

Trudeau, who is isolating after testing positive for COVID-19 last week, has ruled out using the military to disband the protest.

Due to security concerns, Trudeau and his family left their downtown home last weekend and his location has not been disclosed.

The Prime Minister has said the convoy represented a “small fringe minority” and the government would not be intimidated. About 90 per cent of Canada’s cross-border truckers and almost 79% of the population has had two COVID-19 vaccine shots.

Convoy organisers said they would refrain from using their horns on Sunday for four hours “as a gesture of goodwill”.

“Out of respect for the Lord’s Day, for members of our military who have sacrificed and who continue to sacrifice so much for our freedom, for the men and women in blue who are doing such a superb job protecting us ... members of our convoy will desist from the blowing of horns,” the group said in a statement.

Police said they had charged four people with hate crimes and were investigating threats against public figures jointly with the US Federal Bureau of Investigation.

A protester stands on a barricade as trucks continue to block the downtown district in protest of COVID-19 restrictions, in Ottawa, Ontario.Credit: AP

The well-organised blockade has relied partly on funding from sympathisers in the United States, police said. GoFundMe took down the Freedom Convoy’s donation platform, angering some U.S. Republican lawmakers who pledged to investigate the website’s move.

Former US President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have praised the truckers.

A senior member of the Liberal government said the ease with which the convoy shut down the area around the Parliament and the seeming impotence of police was a “national humiliation”.

A former US ambassador to Canada said groups in the US need to cease interfering in what many call an occupation in Canada’s capital as protesters held rallies in cities across the country.

“Under no circumstances should any group in the USA fund disruptive activities in Canada. Period. Full stop,” Bruce Heyman, a former US ambassador under President Barack Obama, tweeted late Saturday.

After crowdfunding site GoFundMe said it would refund or redirect to charities the vast majority of millions raised by demonstrators protesting COVID-19 measures in the Canadian capital, prominent US Republicans like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis complained.

“It is a fraud for @gofundme to commandeer $9M in donations sent to support truckers and give it to causes of their own choosing,” DeSantis tweeted.

He added he would investigate these deceptive practices and donors should be given a refund.

But GoFundMe had already changed its mind and said it would be issuing refunds to all.

GoFundMe said it cut off funding for the organisers because it had determined the effort violated the site’s terms of service due to unlawful activity. Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling it an occupation.

In Australia, a similar crowdfunding campaign raised almost $180,000 to protest COVID-19 mandates, including in support of a convoy to Canberra. The crowdfunding campaign was shut down amid concerns about the spread of COVID-19 misinformation on digital platforms.

In the US, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton tweeted: “Patriotic Texans donated to Canadian truckers’ worthy cause.” Texas Senator Ted Cruz said on Fox News the Canadian “government doesn’t have the right to force you to comply to their arbitrary mandates”.

Heyman said Republicans are more publicly concerned about events in Canada than Russia.

“For some senior American politicians, patriotism means renting a mob to put a G-7 capital under siege. #GoHome” tweeted Gerald Butts, a former senior adviser to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Reuters

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