Canadian police make final push to end weeks-long protest in capital

Canada makes final push to end weeks-long protest in capital: Hundreds of police officers surround downtown Ottawa and warn residents to keep away or face arrest after taking almost 200 into custody this weekend

• Ottawa police have made 191 arrests and towed 57 vehicles as of Sunday as they gain yet more ground in their bid to clear the city of Freedom Convoy protesters   
• Police used pepper spray and stun grenades to move out remaining die-hard protesters this weekend, clearing most of the area in front of Parliament and next to office of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau 
• Police sent out tweets ordering people to avoid the Secured Area in downtown Ottawa until further notice or risk being arrested 
• A blockade at the Pacific Highway border crossing  in Surrey, British Columbia, was finally cleared late Saturday night
• Trudeau needs the support of Parliament to continue using powers under the Emergencies Act 
• Vote has been scheduled for Monday and will now be held sometime ‘early next week,’ leaders say 

By Andrea Cavallier For Dailymail.Com and Reuters

Published: 06:04, 20 February 2022 | Updated: 07:09, 21 February 2022

Canadian police on Sunday are making the final push to clear Ottawa of demonstrators who have paralyzed the capital city by parking and camping on the streets for more than three weeks to protest against pandemic restrictions.  

Police vehicles and a massive police presence of hundreds of officers from seven police forces replaced big rig trucks and protesters Sunday morning in the main downtown area outside Parliament that has been fenced off with warnings for people to avoid the space or risk being arrested.  

Police have made 191 arrests and towed 57 vehicles since hundreds of police officers from seven forces began the massive efforts to bust up the protest on Friday morning that required Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to invoke rarely used emergency powers.  

The ‘Freedom Convoy’ protesters, who rolled into Ottawa on January 28, initially wanted an end to cross-border COVID-19 vaccine mandates for truck drivers, but the blockade turned into demonstrations across the country against Trudeau and the government. 

On Saturday, police used pepper spray and stun grenades to move out the die-hard protesters who have remained, clearing most of the area in front of parliament and next to the prime minister’s office.

But pockets of entrenched protesters still remain. Some of those arrested on Saturday wore body armor and had smoke grenades and other fireworks in their bags and vehicles, police said.

‘This operation is still moving forward. It is not over and it will take more time until we have achieved our goals,’ Ottawa’s Interim Police Chief Steve Bell said on Saturday.

Police continued their effort to clear the downtown area of Ottawa on Sunday.

They sent out tweets ordering people to avoid the Secured Area until further notice or risk being arrested.  

Hundreds of officers from seven police forces descended upon protesters outside Parliament in Ottawa this weekend that has been fenced off with warnings for people to avoid the space or risk being arrested

A winter service vehicle drives through Ottawa Sunday as Canadian police make possibly the final push to clear the capital city of demonstrators who have paralyzed it by parking and camping on the streets for more than three weeks to protest against pandemic restrictions

Police vehicles have replaced big rig trucks and protesters Sunday in the main downtown area that has been fenced off with warnings for people to avoid the space or risk being arrested

Police man a checkpoint inside of a barrier fence near Parliament Hill on Sunday.

Police have made 191 arrests and towed 57 vehicles since they began efforts to bust up the protest

A barricade blocks a street near Parliament Hill a day after police cleared a demonstration by truck drivers opposing vaccine mandates that had been entrenched for 23 days

A pair of boots and a Canadian flag are left behind as clean-up begins of COVID-19 vaccine mandates protest camp, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Sunday 

A man uses a brush as clean up begins of COVID-19 vaccine mandates protest camp, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Sunday

As police worked to clear trucker demonstrators out of the capital in Ottawa on Saturday, protests continued at the Pacific Highway border crossing to the United States in Surrey, British Columbia, for a fourth straight weekend, according to the CBC.  

Surrey RCMP said most demonstrators had cleared the Pacific Highway crossing by 8:40 p.m. PT, but that a smaller group remained on the sidewalk leading police to ‘maintain a large presence throughout the evening.’

The border crossing blockade is just one of several to pop up across Canada in the past few weeks. 

Last week, protesters were forced to end their occupation of Ambassador Bridge, the busiest crossing from Canada to the United States after police in Windsor, Ontario, started arresting demonstrators and towing away vehicles after a Canadian judge issued a 10-day injunction making it unlawful to block Ambassador Bridge – which connects Windsor with Detroit.

Protesters in trucks, cars and vans had blocked traffic in both directions for a week, choking the supply chain for Detroit’s carmakers.

Police forced the demonstrators to clear the bridge by stepping up their presence with more than 50 vehicles, including cruisers, buses and an armored car.  

Ambassador Bridge carries about £360 million a day in two-way cargoes – 25% of the value of all U.S.-Canada goods trade.

Ford Motor Co, the second-largest U.S. automaker, General Motors Co and Toyota Motor Corp all have announced production cuts as a result of the blockade. Companies have diverted cargo to stem losses during the cuts.

Police walk past the Parliament buildings in Ottawa on Sunday. They have made 170 arrests and towed 53 vehicles since they began efforts to bust up the protests that required Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to invoke rarely used emergency powers

A map shows the road closures and blockade that Ottawa police have erected in a ‘ring of flannel’ around the Convoy. Police said Sunday the closures are still in effect  

A JCB vehicle carries fencing, as Canadian police work Sunday to evict the last of the trucks and supporters occupying the downtown core, three weeks after a protests began in Ottawa

Much of the area in downtown Ottawa has been declared a secure zone where only residents and people who can prove they have a valid purpose for entering are allowed past checkpoints 

Police patrol the streets near Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Sunday, a day after they cleared a demonstration by truck drivers opposing vaccine mandates

A sign remains on a bus stop near Parliament Hill on Sunday, a day after police cleared the protests and warned people to avoid the area

Police continued their effort to clear the downtown area of Ottawa on Sunday. They sent out tweets ordering people to avoid the Secured Area until further notice or risk being arrested

A jogger runs down an empty street near Parliament Hill a day after police cleared a demonstration by truck drivers opposing vaccine mandates

Trudeau on Monday invoked emergency powers to give his government wider authority to stop the protests, including sweeping powers to freeze the accounts of those suspected of supporting the blockades, without obtaining a court order.

‘Police are making their way through the streets methodically and responsibly.

This is encouraging, but the work is not yet done,’ Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said on Saturday.

Protesters, who have been filmed by police, will be held accountable, Bell said.

‘We will actively look to identify you and follow up with financial sanctions and criminal charges. … This investigation will go on for months to come.’

A sign reads ‘It’s about constitutional rights’, as clean up begins of COVID-19 vaccine mandates protest site, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on Sunday 

Police inspect one of the last remaining trucks in downtown Ottawa on Sunday

A small Canadian flag and flowers are shown on temporary fencing in downtown Ottawa on Sunday as the clean up continued

Fuel canisters are collected together, while protesters prepare to leave their Coventry Road logistics base, as Canadian police work to evict the last of the trucks and supporters occupying the downtown Ottawa on Sunday

People clean up site of COVID-19 vaccine mandates protest camp, in Ottawa on Sunday

Scores of big rigs that had been lining the protest’s core area of Wellington Street beside the Parliament buildings are gone – some towed but most finally being driven away after truckers were given five-minute warnings before they would be arrested. 

They vanished after police dramatically overran the central location, beside Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s office, which has been the epicenter of the paralyzing three-week Freedom Convoy blockade by more than 300 trucks and which had a stage with a video screen and assorted food tents.

A smaller number of protest supporters were mingling around other streets into the night, some in small stand-offs against police lines but others just wandering around. 

Ottawa’s interim police chief Steve Bell said of the operation: ‘It is going at this point exactly as we anticipated.’  

A protester lies on the ground after being apprehended during Saturday’s Freedom Convoy protest in Ottawa 

The protester was apprehended as 47 people were arrested Saturday, with 38 vehicles impounded 

Mounted cops were snapped patrolling through snowy Ottawa as they moved to clear away the last of the protesters 

Bell, who took over when former chief Peter Sloly resigned, said at a press conference: ‘This is tough work.

‘These officers are doing what they have been trained to do. They have demonstrated unparalleled discipline, restraint and the upmost professionalism.’

He said of the protestors: ‘At every step in the this operation we have been upfront and clear with the unlawful protestors that they must leave the area.

‘We have advised them of our enforcements efforts to they could continue to make informed decisions.

‘We backed up those warning with a deliberate and methodical operation using lawful and safe tactics.

Bell said his teams had faced ‘a barrage of resistance, shoving and vitriol’ at every stage.

‘We all saw the protestors were aggressive with the officers and we needed to use horses at one point,’ he added.

‘As a result we responded this morning by adding helmets and batons to our equipment for the safety of our officers.

‘Our officers continued to face resistance.

At one point a flare was ignited by a protestor. Officers used a chemical irritant also known as pepper spray unlawful demonstrators who were resisting police orders.’

Bell condemned parents who are bringing children to the front line of the protest.

‘Sadly we again saw young children being brought to… the front of our police operation,’ he said.

‘This is dangerous and is putting young children at risk.’

Cops are filmed shoving protesters during Saturday’s operation to break up the remaining Freedom Convoy 

A female protester was snapped on the ground with a cop behind her during what appeared to be an apprehension on Saturday 

Another protester held up a placard saying ‘Hold the line’ in a rallying cry to his fellow Freedom Convoy members on Saturday

Freedom Convoy organizers had issued a statement saying they asked truckers to move their rigs from the Parliament Hill area over the weekend. 

It was the first signal from the nerve center of the protest that they are accepting they were in the final stages of the blockade.

Leaders also condemned police action against their protest.

A statement said: ‘The Freedom Convoy 2022 is shocked at the abuses of power by the low enforcement in Ottawa.

‘The police have horse-trampled on demonstrators and deployed riot control agents. They have beaten peaceful protestors with batons and with the stock of their guns.

‘We have therefore asked out truckers to move from Parliament Hill to avoid further brutality.

To move trucks we will need time. This has been communicated to Ottawa police, and we hope that they will judicious restraint.

‘The truckers are moving, and the use of more force will only be used to punish people and it to preserve establish order.’

Lines of police officers assemble near the truckers’ protest on Friday

A truck leaves the Parliament Hill area as some drivers on Friday were convinced to leave the site

A police force of hundreds has descended on the Freedom Convoy truckers in Ottawa, Canada, making scores of arrests and towing away big rigs that have formed a three-week blockade around the country’s Parliament to protest vaccine mandates. At least 70 protesters have been arrested, and police said none have been injured

Police storm a caravan and arrest a person who refused to leave

Among the police units on the ground this weekend were the fearsome Surete du Quebec riot cops, dressed in green military-style fatigues, helmets and visors and wielding batons.

Some were also brandishing tear gas guns and already wearing gas masks.

The operation began with a tense face-off between a large contingent of Ottawa cops – dressed in blue tactical gear and some with rubber bullet guns – confronting demonstrators near the Westin hotel on the edge of the police’s new ‘secured zone.’ Police horses were in the background.

DailyMail.com witnessed four arrests of individuals who were singled out and wrestled to the ground before being cuffed with zip ties and led away.

Officers faced taunts and shouts as they slowly moved the crowd back towards the iconic Chateau Laurier hotel, about 400 yards from the protest epicenter beside the Parliament Buildings.

As he watched cops advance, protestor Dallon – who would not give his last name – told DailyMail.com: ‘This is a sledge hammer to kill a fly.

‘I’m not afraid to get arrested. In fact I’m expecting it. But they know why we are here and many of them are actually with us.’

The number of demonstrators thinned out with the first police surge in the highly fluid situation.

Organizers could be heard trying to rally protestors to ‘hold the line’ farther back.

One, who had a British accent, appeared to be a demonstration co-ordinator. He rushed past us as he yelled to others: ‘Go back, hold the line in Wellington Street (closer to the main blockade). We’re just going to get arrested here,’

As the crowd was corralled up the street to a group of parked trucks, at least 50 of the Surete du Quebec riot cops appeared to come out of nowhere and the tension rose dramatically.

The daunting military-style figures blocked anyone leaving their self-imposed perimeter, warning everyone including the media that they faced arrest.

Minutes later, they formed a single line, separating demonstrators from the road intersection near the Chateau Laurier that had been taken over by truckers.

Three riot cop spotters were seen on the roof of the building being used as the temporary home of the Canadian Senate, which overlooks the stand-off area.

A drone was flying overhead.

Demonstrators yelled ‘shame on you’ and chanted at the officers, who stood immobile for at least two hours in what appears to be a patient and methodical police operation.

One man stripped off his shirt and got down on his knees in an imploring gesture as he begged them to back off.

However, behind the wall of riot cops other officers could be seen arresting truckers who had stayed in their rigs which were overrun by the law enforcement surge near the Chateau Laurier.

Cops could be seen knocking on the door of trucks to get the drivers to come out. Most complied, although at least one tried to stay put and an officer breached the door to pull him out.

The arrested drivers all ended up sprawled on the snow, made to put their arms behind their backs and were then cuffed before being led away.

And the tension rose dramatically just before 5pm when a column of police horses moved in as the riot cops began another surge to claim more ground. By 6.25pm the riot police were holding a new line slightly closer to the Parliament Buildings.

Ottawa cops said their officers had been attacked.

They tweeted: ‘Protestors are assaulting officers, have attempted to remove officers’ weapons.

All means of de-escalation have been used to move forward in our goal of returning Ottawa to its normalcy.’

All means of de-escalation have been used to move forward in our goal of returning Ottawa to its normalcy.’ 

Police horses lined up in Ottawa on Friday, before the order was given to disperse the crowd

A protester is forcibly removed from the scene in Ottawa by police on Friday

Police confront truckers in a bid to remove them from Ottawa on Friday

Protesters and police tussle as one of 100 people is arrested in Ottawa on Friday

Police face off with demonstrators in Ottawa on Friday night

Four officers carry a handcuffed protester away from the no-go zone in Ottawa

A person waves a Canadian flag as police on horseback and an armoured police vehicle are positioned in front of protesters

Using powers under the Emergencies Act, Ottawa cops established a ‘no-go’ zone with 100 checkpoints encircling the Freedom Convoy, cutting them off from support and preventing additional protesters from joining the demonstration blockading the streets around Parliament Hill.  

The capital represented the movement’s last stronghold after three weeks of demonstrations and blockades that shut down border crossings into the U.S., caused economic damage to both countries and created a political crisis for Trudeau.

With police and the government facing accusations that they let the protests gain strength and spread, Trudeau on Monday invoked Canada’s Emergencies Act, empowering law enforcement authorities to declare the blockades illegal, tow away trucks, arrest the drivers, suspend their licenses and freeze their bank accounts.

Ottawa police made it clear on Thursday they were preparing to end the protest and remove the more than 300 trucks, with Ottawa’s interim police chief warning: ‘Action is imminent.’