OTTAWA, ONTARIO — Several dozen police officers in neon vests made their way into downtown Ottawa Thursday, handing out final written warnings to truckers and their supporters, telling them to go home or risk arrest and financial ruin.
It was the first time in 21 days that law enforcement officers outnumbered members of the so-called Freedom Convoy and its supporters in Canada’s capital city.
As the authorities went from truck to truck handing out the warnings, work crews began erecting a steel fence outside Parliament. Inside, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made his case for invoking the country’s never-before-used Emergencies Act, which gives the government sweeping powers to declare the blockades illegal, tow trucks away, freeze the bank accounts of truckers and their employers, suspend their licenses, prohibit them from traveling, issue fines, and toss them in jail for up to five years for not complying.
“We understand that everyone is tired of this pandemic,” Trudeau said during his opening remarks. “We understand that Canadians are frustrated with [COVID-19]. Some protesters came to Ottawa to express their frustrations and fatigue with public health measures. That’s their right. It’s a right that we’ll defend in this free and democratic country. But the illegal blockades and occupations are not peaceful protests. They have to stop.”
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For the most part, neither the truckers nor their supporters budged, with several telling the Washington Examiner they were willing to go to jail for the cause.
Pat King, one of the protest leaders, predicted Thursday morning that “there’s no tow trucks in Canada that will touch [the rigs parked bumper-to-bumper].”
In a Facebook video, King warned fellow protesters that police were about to move in on them.
“It’s going down!” he said. “Truckers, get up. Get on your radios. Get on your horns. One long blast. Let’s go, guys.”
Protester Tim Watson told the Washington Examiner the written warnings were simply “scare tactics” and that he wasn’t leaving. Watson has been at the protest site since the start, more than three weeks ago.
As protesters King and Watson stood their ground outside, Trudeau was getting hammered by lawmakers inside the House of Commons.
Even though the liberal prime minister invoked the Emergencies Act on Monday and it went into effect immediately, members of the House of Commons and the Senate have seven days to approve or deny it. A vote is scheduled for Monday.
During his statement on Thursday, Trudeau was frequently booed, mocked, and criticized by members of the Conservative Party for his lack of leadership when the protests began as well as his decision to give his government powers to go after Canadians.
“It is historic and it is extremely disappointing,” interim Conservative Party Leader Candice Bergen said. “Throughout the last three weeks, the prime minister has failed to take meaningful action to deescalate the protest here or use any tools he may have had available. Instead, he has jumped straight to the most extreme measure.”
Bergen also faulted Trudeau for failing to meet with the truckers to hear their concerns.
“At every turn, he has stigmatized, wedged, divided, and traumatized Canadians, and now, without a single meeting with the truckers, without talking through one of their concerns, without apologizing for his insults, and listening to what people have to say, without using any other tool at his disposal, he has used this overreach, this Emergencies Act, and it’s wrong,” she said.
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Despite the pushback, it is likely that the House of Commons will vote in favor of using the Emergencies Act.
