[EN DIRECT] “Freedom convoy” this weekend: everything you need to know about the demonstrations in Quebec and Ottawa

Truckers are expected in Quebec this weekend. Others have been gathering in Ottawa for a week now to demonstrate against health measures.

Here’s what to know about the “Freedom Convoy.”

In Quebec

11:36 am | Vehicles are parked all over Parliament Hill, many in prohibited places, such as the bus stop in front of the Grand Theater on Turnbull Street.

11:11 a.m. | Quebec City is cut in two. Upper town is paralyzed. The several-kilometre convoy monopolizes the whole of René-Lévesque Boulevard and a section of Laurier Boulevard eastbound, to the sound of horns. It is mostly SUVs and 4X4s that are heading to Parliament Hill.

10:39 am | The few hundred demonstrators gathered on Parliament Hill were jubilant when the first convoy of truckers arrived on Saturday morning.

PICTURES | The convoy from Beauce enters Quebec on the Pierre-Laporte bridge.

09:28 | In anticipation of the anti-sanitary measures demonstration brewing in the capital on Saturday, the Quebec City Police Service (SPVQ) advises that it will not tolerate any illegal action.

09:06 | Dozens of people were feverishly awaiting the arrival of the Beauce convoy in front of the parliament on Saturday morning, while the demonstration should start around noon.

00:00 | The Quebec police did an exemplary job for the first evening of demonstration, Thursday evening, which sets the tone for the rest of the weekend, estimates one of its ex-investigators.

In Ottawa

11:15 a.m. | Many people are present on Wellington Street in Ottawa.

Our chronicles

In Quebec

8:19 p.m. | Barely four cars and a few participants and sympathizers were on the starting line of the “convoy from the East” in Port-Daniel-Gascons and Paspébiac, in Gaspésie, on Friday evening, to go to the demonstration “for freedom” on Saturday in Quebec.

5:23 p.m. | The leaders of the mobilization against the sanitary rules raised the pressure a notch in Quebec, Friday evening, with accusations against the municipal authorities and the media, despite a still modest crowd for a second evening.

4:53 p.m. | Opponents of the “freedom convoy” intend to go to Quebec this weekend in solidarity with the residents of the city.

4:22 p.m. | Residents of Old Quebec and the Saint-Jean-Baptiste district hope that they will be able to sleep in the coming days and that they will not have to endure a concert of horns day and night, like in Ottawa.

12:45 | The snow that has been falling for two days will complicate the task of demonstrators who intended to park in the streets of the capital since the City announces a parking ban in part of the city center, on the night of Friday to Saturday, for an operation of snow removal.

11:43 am | The city is safe, insists the mayor of Quebec, Bruno Marchand, who invites carnival-goers not to hesitate to join the party. He warns the demonstrators who think of besieging the city that they “will find shoe with their foot”.

11:36 am | Prime Minister François Legault, who invites families to participate in the Carnival of Quebec despite the presence of demonstrators, warns that “many tow trucks” are ready to dislodge trucks from the road if necessary.

10:07 am | The organizers of the Côte-Nord convoy who traveled to Quebec City on Thursday evening announced on social networks that the “party” would begin at 5 p.m. on Friday on Parliament Hill.

04:45 | If irreducible people continue to demonstrate in Ottawa to challenge the vaccination obligation for truckers almost a week after the start of their movement, Quebec is in turn preparing to experience a hectic weekend because of another “convoy of freedom”.

In Ottawa

9:39 p.m. | Makeshift encampments by protesters in the heart of Ottawa pose safety risks that could cause serious accidents, experts worry.

9:15 p.m. | A few days after participating in the Ottawa demonstration, the leader of the People’s Party of Canada (PPC), Maxime Bernier, continued to defend his positions in the face of the management of the health crisis.

READ | Organizers of the ‘freedom convoy’, which has blocked downtown Ottawa for more than a week, are facing a potential $9.8 million class action lawsuit over continuous vehicle horn noise, filed in the name of downtown residents of the city.

6:29 p.m. | The GoFundMe platform officially cuts the distribution of funds to protesters in Ottawa due to the state of siege and the violence of the past few days.

5:16 p.m. | Ontario Premier Doug Ford has raised his voice in the face of “freedom convoy” protesters who have been blocking Ottawa streets for nearly a week.

3:50 p.m. | Manitoba Conservative MP Candice Bergen, elected interim leader of the Conservative Party of Canada on Wednesday night, called on truckers to remain peaceful and denounced “any act of hatred, racism, intolerance or violence” on Friday.

3:36 p.m. | After “marching for safety” on Friday, Ottawa residents were to return to the streets of the federal capital on Saturday to demand the departure of the convoy of truckers. However, the organizers announced on Friday that this second demonstration by Ottawans will ultimately not take place.

12:47 | The “party” of truck-protesters in Ottawa continued until 11:30 p.m. Thursday evening with the explosion of fireworks near homes, once again adding to the discontent of citizens who can no longer take it. endure their pranks.

11:37 am | If he understands the demands of the truckers, the Conservative MP for the riding of Charlesbourg-Haute-Saint-Charles, Pierre Paul-Hus, felt that it was time for the demonstrators to leave Ottawa.

09:26 | In view of the arrival of new supporters of the “freedom convoy” for the weekend, the Ottawa police say they have “learned their lesson” and will reinforce their forces to prevent other truckers from settling.