The city needs more support from other municipalities and from the government. In central Ottawa, many streets are blocked by hundreds of trucks.
The police again called on the demonstrators on Sunday to leave the city center. There was a disturbance of the peace overnight. Since Saturday, they have issued more than 450 fines, including for dangerous driving and noise pollution. Several people were taken into custody and almost 100 cases were being investigated, including for hate crimes, the police said.
5000 participants, 1000 vehicles
An estimated 5,000 people took part in the trucker protests on Saturday, according to Police Commissioner Peter Sloly. Around 1,000 trucks and other vehicles blocked parts of the city center. Residents were asked to stay away from downtown.
The protest in Ottawa began ten days ago with the arrival of a convoy of hundreds of trucks. The so-called Freedom Convoy (translated: “Convoy of Freedom”) and demonstrators have been holding out in the city near Parliament ever since. The protests were triggered by vaccination requirements for truck drivers returning from the United States that were introduced in January. The protests are now directed against government pandemic restrictions as a whole.
A majority of the Canadian population supports the pandemic measures, according to a recently published poll. In Canada, more than 77 percent of the population is fully vaccinated.
Source: Nachrichten
