The intervention is “imminent”, warned the authorities. “If you want to leave of your own free will, now is the time to do it,” Acting Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell told protesters Thursday afternoon. In the process, the police carried out some targeted arrests of anti-sanitary measures demonstrators, in particular, according to the CBC channel, of one of the leaders of the “freedom convoy”, Chris Barber. However, at the start of the evening, the police had not yet done anything to dislodge the protesters and their trucks, which have been blocking the Canadian capital for nearly three weeks.
“We are ready to act to evict illegal protesters from our streets,” insisted Steve Bell, explaining that a security perimeter has been erected around the city center and that a hundred checkpoints make it possible to control entrances. in the zone. But on the ground, the demonstrators continued to sound trumpets and horns, turning in circles, Canadian flag on the back or hanging on a hockey stick.
Nothing “peaceful” anymore
A few meters away, the Prime Minister Justin Trudeau considered that this challenge was no longer “peaceful” during a historic debate in the House of Commons on the implementation of the Emergency Measures Act, an exceptional provision which he invoked on Monday for the second time in Canada’s peacetime history. “The objective of all measures, including the financial measures provided for in the Emergencies Act, is to meet the current threat and bring the situation under full control,” added Justin Trudeau.
In a letter addressed to the Premiers of the provinces on Wednesday evening, he had considered that the movement “threatened democracy” and undermined “the reputation of Canada abroad”. “Individual and corporate bank accounts” linked to the blocking have been frozen, Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said at a press conference. Calling the situation “precarious,” Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino said “illegal border blockades” had cost the Canadian economy billions of dollars.
The order to “leave the premises”
The demonstrators, determined to stay “until the end”, had received an ultimatum on Wednesday from the police, who went around the trucks to distribute a leaflet ordering them to “leave the premises”. “They are trying to scare people to prevent them from coming this weekend,” trucker Kevin Veurink, 39, told AFP, reacting to the installation of these barricades around the parliamentary precinct. . Gray sweater with “Freedom together” logo on the back, this Ontarian who was carrying a cart with gas cans says he is ready to stay “until we get arrested, if that happens”.
As of Wednesday night, Ottawa’s new police chief Steve Bell said he had a “methodical plan” to end the protest. “Some of the techniques that we are allowed to use and are prepared to use are not commonly seen in Ottawa,” he warned.
perilous situation
A mix of rain and snow expected on Wednesday and in the coming days could complicate operations for police, who face a complex and perilous situation to dislodge protesters smoothly. She fears in particular the presence of “radical elements” but also of many children in the demonstration, including babies.
One of the organizers of the freedom convoy Tamara Lich said she expected to be arrested. “I think it’s inevitable now…” she said in a video posted on social media. The city of Ottawa, the province of Ontario and the whole of Canada are under a state of emergency due to this unprecedented protest movement, party of the opposition of truckers to be vaccinated against Covid-19 to cross the border between Canada and the United States.
Initially minimized by the authorities, the movement has spread in recent weeks to all health measures and, for many demonstrators, to a rejection of the government of Justin Trudeau.