Video: The truck convoy protests in Canada's capital city of Canada, starting from late January, have seen around 600 trucks as of Feb. 17, 2022. Now some big ones have left, temporary newcomers have joined in, and more police officers have poured into the area. (Xinhua)
While protests in the capital will soon reach the fourth weekend in a row, there has so far been no negotiation between the protesters and the government.
OTTAWA, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- "I'm staying until probably Saturday night. I've got things to do at home," 61-year-old Canadian trucker Al Forrest said Thursday.
Forrest was among a thin crowd of truckers gathering in downtown Ottawa on this cold rainy day to oppose the Canadian government's vaccine requirement for truckers crossing the border into the United States.
The truck convoy protests in the capital city of Canada, starting from late January, have so far seen around 600 trucks. Now some big ones have left, temporary newcomers have joined in, and more police officers have poured into the area. Security fencing and barriers have been put around federal buildings and throughout the downtown core.
Forrest said he got a parking ticket of 110 Canadian dollars on his minibus window shield. There have been many others like him who received parking fines or warnings from the police.
For the first time in Canada's history, the Emergencies Act was invoked on Monday to give the Canadian federal government extra and "temporary" powers to end the trucker convoy protests and blockades. According to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the act, which provides special powers to respond to emergency scenarios, will ensure that essential services, such as towing services to remove trucks, are rendered.
Two men walk dogs in front of trucks while crossing Wellington Street in Ottawa, Canada, Feb. 10, 2022. (Xinhua/Lin Wei)
It will also be used to protect critical infrastructure such as borders and airports from the trucker blockades, and the government will give the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) more power to arrest people gathering at illegal assemblies, and allow the RCMP to assist provincial and municipal police officers to enforce their own laws.
While a recent poll suggested that the invocation has received support from 66 percent of Canadians, it was met with hot debates in Parliament on Thursday.
In response to critics of the invocation, Trudeau told the House of Commons on Thursday: "We're not using the Emergencies Act to call in the military. We're not limiting people's freedom of expression. We're not limiting freedom of peaceful assembly. We're not limiting people from exercising their right to protest, legally."
"Illegal blockades and occupations are not peaceful protests. They have to stop," he said. "Law enforcement now has more tools and resources to give the people of this city their jobs, neighborhoods and freedoms back."
While protests in the capital will soon reach the fourth weekend in a row, there has so far been no negotiation between the protesters and the government.
"Under provincial and federal legislation, you will face severe penalties if you do not cease further unlawful activity and remove your vehicle and/or property immediately from all unlawful protest sites," the Ottawa Police Service told demonstrators on Wednesday in a statement.
A police car blocking the road is seen in Ottawa, Canada, Feb. 10, 2022. (Xinhua/Lin Wei)
Police at the scene in downtown Ottawa told Xinhua on Thursday that they were just there for public safety. They have warned that transporting fuel needed to keep heaters on inside the trucks will be fined, but the warning has not stopped the flow of fuel delivery.
Chris, a retired teacher who declined to give his surname, has been transporting jerry cans of diesel with his wagon from a gas station 12 blocks away.
"I'm told to bring these cans which are full of fluid up to help these truckers. That's what I'm told. For the past two years, I've been sitting around reading, talking, going to rallies, but we have to take some actions. So this is our opportunity to take action," he said.
Mike Waselen, a 66-year-old retired ticket seller for the Toronto Maple Leafs, has taken six full laps around Parliament Hill together with other protesters. "On the seventh lap at one o'clock, the horns will blow. This is an assembly. This is not a protest," Waselen said.
Meanwhile, Geoff Eavley, a retired master warrant officer at the Canadian Armed Forces, has volunteered to stand sentry on the site of the National War Memorial in downtown Ottawa. Video shots posted on social media in late January have shown protesters urinating on the site and dancing on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
"It was an absolute desecration, a desecration of sacred ground," Eavley said. ■
