Police in the Canadian capital Ottawa are warning truck drivers blockading the downtown core to leave now or face being arrested, in a major crackdown by authorities
Police are seeking to end a three-week-old protest, currently happening across Canada over COVID restrictions.
Interim Police Chief Steve Bell promised “to take back the entirety of the downtown core and every occupied space” in “coming days.”
Protesters have been demonstrating against vaccination mandates enforced by the government. Those mandates include that truck drivers be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or face the prospect of losing their jobs.
Federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino has accused extremist groups of helping to organise the protests in Ottawa and at major U.S. border crossings. Authorities have repeated suggestions that some actors wanted to overthrow the Liberal government.
Police handed leaflets to truckers that read:
“You must leave the area now. Anyone blocking streets … may be arrested.”
Canadian authorities also ticketed some of the hundreds of vehicles blocking Ottawa’s downtown core.
At least one large rig left while some demonstrators put the leaflets into a toilet placed in front of a truck.
Some truckers blew their horns in violation of a court order forbidding such behaviour.
The government including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have condemned the protests, urging for them to come to an end urgently.
