Ottawa has more government presence than any other city in the country, including federal, provincial and municipal police and politicians galore. And yet, no one is doing anything effective about the determined demonstrators who have set up a semi-permanent camp in the capital and have no intention of leaving.
Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly says protesters are countering any police actions to bring an end to the “Freedom Convoy” demonstration that has occupied the downtown core of the nation’s capital for 11 days, with no signs of ending.
Speaking on CTV News at Six Monday evening, Sloly said demonstrators are adapting quickly to any enforcement efforts, such as disallowing fuel containers into the downtown core.
“I meant no harm,” Gerry Charlebois told the Toronto Sun in an interview. “I just gave the trucker a thumbs up and a honk.”
On the same day as a judge ordered an end to incessant honking, Ottawa Police enforced this by pulling over an elderly, retired Ottawa-area high school janitor.
Ottawa police arrest an 80 year Old man , his crime, honking his car horn to support the freedom truckers pic.twitter.com/o9Q58CtLDM
— neil jettel (@NeilJettel2) February 8, 2022
Tucker Carlson has slammed the response to truckers protesting against vaccine mandates by Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and other officials, with the Fox News host claiming the demonstrators are being treated like terrorists.
Trudeau has accused the truckers of ‘blockading’ Canada’s democracy after they paralyzed Ottawa’s business district for over a week by blocking the roads.
And members of the Freedom Convoy protest have been arrested and charged with hate crimes, while Go Fund Me cut off funding for the protest organizers after determining that their efforts violated their terms of service.
Canadian liberals: quell the insurrection!https://t.co/ykMOHXmyJJ
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) February 8, 2022
Thousands of demonstrators have successfully occupied Canada’s frigid capital for days, and say they plan on staying as long as it takes to thwart the country’s vaccine requirements.
The brazen occupation of Ottawa came as a result of unprecedented coordination between various anti-vaccine and anti-government organizations and activists, and has been seized on by similar groups around the world.
It may herald the revenge of the anti-vaxxers.
A core group of protesters in the nation’s capital continue to defy calls for the trucker convoy to go home as Ottawa remains under a state of emergency.
At an “emergency press conference” held by some of the protest organizers, a spokesperson proposed the truckers would be willing to “sit down with” and form a coalition of opposition parties with the Governor General of Canada, in an apparent variation of the Canada Unity MOU that was circulated prior to the convoy’s arrival in Ottawa.
The group said they have booked a room at a local hotel in Ottawa to meet with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Tuesday, who has thus far declined to meet with or acknowledge the convoy’s leaders, nor has he displayed an inclination to negotiate.
It is getting very rich, this protest. Rich and raw. Very much so; as each day passes and the protest deepens and extends to areas beyond its initial phase, the country is witness to a depth of division not seen in decades. The prime minister is nowhere to be seen, nowhere to be heard.
It must be very disconcerting for the public servants of Ottawa to come face to face with the people they rob blind.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is being accused of ‘blockading’ Canada’s democracy and stoking division across the country for branding anti-mandate protesters of the Freedom Convoy as ‘swastika wavers’ after they paralyzed the capital city of Ottawa for over a week by blocking the roads.
Demonstrations continued Monday evening into Tuesday as trucks blocked traffic on the Ambassador Bridge, the busiest border crossing to the United States, forcing police to close the bridge that links Detroit, Michigan and the Canadian city of Windsor, Ontario.
#BreakingNews NOW: #Trudeau Explodes At #Truckers Protest. Slams "People Waving Swastikas" RAW CLIP#TruckersForFreedom2022 #TruckersConvoy2022 #cdnpoli @JustinTrudeau pic.twitter.com/cLtzzocgTA
— BREAKING NEWS BITES (@NewsMelt) February 8, 2022
OTTAWA — Almost two-thirds of Canadians oppose the Ottawa protest against COVID-19 measures, with more than four in 10 saying they strongly consider the demonstration a selfish display, a new poll suggests.
But almost 30 per cent of Canadians surveyed by Leger disagreed with that characterization of the demonstration against COVID-19 measures that has seen hundreds of large trucks create gridlock and incessant noise in the national capital.
Ont. reports 42 more virus-related deaths; Number of COVID patients in hospital now 2,254
Ontario is reporting another 42 virus-related deaths as the province continues to see a steady decrease in the number of COVID-19 patients in hospitals week-over-week.
Provincial health officials say there are now 2,254 patients in hospital with COVID-19, down from 3,091 just one week ago. The number of patients with the virus receiving treatment in intensive care units has also dropped to 474, nearly 100 fewer than the number reported last Tuesday.
474 people are in ICU with #COVID19. 82% of patients admitted to the ICU were admitted for COVID-19 and 18% were admitted for other reasons but have tested positive for COVID-19.
There are 2,092 new cases of COVID-19.
— Christine Elliott (@celliottability) February 8, 2022
Finally ready to travel abroad? Returning home can get complicated
Many Canadians were forced to shelve their upcoming vacations when the pandemic first hit.
Two years later, as March break approaches, and with COVID-19 restrictions lifting, a number of people are anxious to resurrect those long-awaited travel plans.
Canadian-based travel agency Flight Centre said bookings for trips departing from Canadian airports in March have spiked by more than 700 per cent compared to bookings the same time last year.
The trucker convoy protest against COVID-19 measures that has brought Canada’s national capital to a standstill for the past 11 days is garnering growing interest across the border in the United States.
… Bruce Heyman, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada under Barack Obama, said it was “wholly inappropriate” for U.S. senators, governors and states’ attorneys general to suggest support of the trucker movement and interfere with Canada’s domestic affairs.
“It’s so incredibly scary and disappointing,” he told Global News in an interview from Chicago.
New Zealand protesters block streets outside parliament
WELLINGTON, Feb 8 (Reuters) – Hundreds of people protesting vaccine mandates and pandemic restrictions blocked streets outside New Zealand’s parliament on Tuesday with trucks and campervans, inspired by similar demonstrations in Canada.
The “convoy for freedom” protesters arrived from all corners of New Zealand and gathered outside the parliament building in the capital Wellington, called the Beehive, ahead of the first speech for the year by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern.
Belgium convoy for freedom getting underway as the Canadian method spreads worldwide.#FreedomConvoy2022 pic.twitter.com/61Kx9d0E1E
— WorldWideNews24 (XII) (@News24Wide) February 8, 2022
People want their freedom first and foremost, to work in peace and without the state meddling in their lives or telling them how to raise their children or take care of their health.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the ongoing anti-vaccine mandate protest in Ottawa is “trying to blockade our economy, our democracy and our fellow citizens’ daily lives.”
He says, “It has to stop.”
Trudeau appeared in the House of Commons Monday evening to take part in an emergency debate on the protest in Ottawa, which is now in its second week.
Supporters of the trucker convoy have delayed traffic at the Ambassador Bridge, Canada’s busiest border crossing.
Police in Windsor, Ont. say the exit from the Ambassador Bridge onto Huron Church Road is “temporarily interrupted” in both directions due to the presence of protesters. Police are advising drivers to avoid the area or find alternate route, if possible.
The Ambassador Bridge that connects Ontario and Michigan was shut down by the Freedom Convoy overnight, sparking massive delays.
route is the busiest for freight connecting the two nations, and the blockade could have a major impact on the supply chain to cities like Detroit. pic.twitter.com/WITXhQSRVP
— TheCrimsonWorm (@PrtyOfNone) February 8, 2022
Their narrative collapsed so hard that even Bill Maher’s finally had enough.
The bloke has been on fire lately.
And he’s getting better by the day.
— Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) February 6, 2022
