(Ottawa) Police on every street corner, a hundred arrests, dozens of heavy trucks towed away, freezing weather. Nothing succeeded in dislodging the protesters from downtown Ottawa on Friday, where the atmosphere was increasingly tense at the 22and convoy day.
Updated yesterday at 11:24 p.m.
As of this writing, authorities had towed 21 vehicles. In the morning, there were no more demonstrators on board the trucks, and tow trucks were at work to move the behemoths. Many drivers were masked, for fear of reprisals.
Meanwhile, in the city center, many police intervention vehicles were on the lookout. More than a hundred roadblocks have been put in place to cordon off the city centre.
PHOTO SARAH MONGEAU-BIRKETT, THE PRESS
Vehicle towing on Nicholas Street
Some protesters ended up on Sussex Drive, where an RV was blocking virtually all lanes. Officers broke down the door, opened it with a crowbar and entered while protecting themselves with shields – not without examining the underside of the vehicle with a bomb-detecting inspection mirror. They came out with an individual who shouted “Freedom! raising her arms.
Once the vehicle was towed, the police continued their progress and made several arrests, including that of a woman who had clung to the rear view mirror of a heavy goods vehicle while shouting: “It’s my truck! In the cabins of the trucks, both at this intersection and at that of Wellington and Rideau streets, where the agents of the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) were posted, occupants said that they would not move.
“Let them arrest me if they want. I’m ready to go to jail,” yelled Nova Scotia’s Troy Dorey, whose front of the truck was just yards from the police cordon. “It’s my house here, they’re not allowed to come in,” said Richard, from Niagara Falls, who is also ready to end up in prison “for [ses] children and grandchildren” and their “freedom”.
The police move on
The police had gained ground by the end of the afternoon and were gradually approaching the heart of the demonstration on Wellington Street in Ottawa.
Protesters found themselves face to face with police on horseback, who were driving the crowd away.
Ottawa police say convoy participants assaulted officers. Several tried to take their weapons away from them during the operation. Authorities are using “de-escalation means” to manage the situation, the police force said on Twitter.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Police officers guarding the entrance to the Château Laurier
Around the Château Laurier, a line of police faced the angry protesters. Officers on horseback pushed the crowd back, throwing a few protesters to the ground in their path, including an elderly lady.
Une personne aurait jeté un vélo aux pieds de l’un des animaux pour tenter de le blesser et a été arrêtée, selon la police.
Des manifestants déterminés à rester
Malgré tout, l’occupation perdure. Des centaines de personnes se trouvaient toujours aux abords du parlement peu avant 21 h, malgré les interventions ciblées dans le secteur du centre-ville du matin.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, LA PRESSE
Camions bloquant une rue du centre-ville d’Ottawa, vendredi soir
Après 22 jours de cacophonie, de coups de klaxon et de slogans demandant la « liberté », Kyle Norbury ne se lasse pas et profite de la tempête. L’Albertain a passé la matinée à former des bancs de neige autour des véhicules des manifestants. « Ça sert d’isolant », dit-il.
La forte présence policière dans le centre-ville ne le préoccupe pas.
On n’est pas inquiets du tout. Ils ne nous font pas peur. On va rester ici. On n’ira nulle part.
Kyle Norbury, manifestant venu de l’Alberta, à propos de la présence policière
Les rues demeurent bloquées pour empêcher les occupants de regagner le cœur de la manifestation.
Un employé de Postes Canada qui préfère préserver l’anonymat fronce les sourcils en grelottant. « Moi, je vais rester. Rendu là, j’ai plus rien à perdre. Je ne suis pas vacciné, donc je suis en arrêt de travail, et on me bloque l’accès à tout. Je veux me battre contre ça. »
Les autorités ont lancé un avertissement : « Vous devez partir. Vous devez cesser toute activité illégale et retirer immédiatement votre véhicule ou vos biens de tous les sites de protestation illégaux. Toute personne se trouvant sur le site d’une manifestation illégale peut être arrêtée. »
La police a rappelé aux manifestants qu’ils s’exposaient « à de graves sanctions » s’ils n’obtempèrent pas. La Loi sur les mesures d’urgence prévoit des amendes pouvant aller jusqu’à 5000 $ et une peine de prison maximale de cinq ans, selon la gravité de l’infraction.
La rue Wellington toujours festive
Le centre-ville habituellement tranquille d’Ottawa était méconnaissable, vendredi.
Des tireurs d’élite parcouraient les toits de certains immeubles, un drone de la police survolait les rues de la capitale et des agents de la SQ documentaient les évènements à l’aide de caméras vidéo.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, LA PRESSE
Des policiers ont surveillé les manifestations du toit d’un édifice.
Mais devant le parlement, l’insouciance régnait.
Rue Wellington, face au parlement, de nombreuses génératrices fonctionnaient à plein régime pour réchauffer les camions et les tentes qui abritent les manifestants. Quelques-uns s’affairaient à pelleter le square près de la statue de Terry Fox tôt le matin. D’autres installaient un château gonflable pour que les enfants puissent jouer ou faisaient rôtir un porc entier à la broche. Une vingtaine d’irréductibles dansaient au son d’une musique forte.
À la tombée de la nuit, une poignée de personnes se déhanchaient au son de tambours et d’une mélodie pop-rock, au milieu d’innombrables drapeaux canadiens flottant au vent. Des slogans dénonçant une dictature tapissaient la clôture, alors que l’air s’embaumait d’un fort effluve de cannabis.
Un homme a envoyé un doigt d’honneur à l’édifice en chantant : « Fini la dictature ! » en comparant le gouvernement Trudeau à celui de Fidel Castro.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, LA PRESSE
Venue du Nouveau-Brunswick pour appuyer la cause des camionneurs, Carole Ouellet ne craint pas l’intervention policière. Elle n’a guère l’intention de plier bagage pour rentrer chez elle, à Kedgwick, dans le nord-ouest de la province. « On ne veut pas de violence », a-t-elle dit d’emblée.
La vaccination obligatoire, c’est de la discrimination. […] Vaccination should be a personal choice. I have nothing against those who want to be vaccinated. But threatening people that they will lose their jobs because they don’t want to take it is too much.
Carole Ouellet, protester from New Brunswick
IMAGE PROVIDED BY OTTAWA POLICE
A perimeter has been marked out around the city center, and the police have created a secure zone that stretches for several kilometres.
One of her friends, who is a nurse, lost her job because she did not want to be vaccinated. “She no longer has a job, no unemployment either. She has just had a new house built. It’s terrible what is happening. »
She indicated that she refused to get vaccinated because she was seriously ill after getting an H1N1 flu shot. She supports the cause of truckers, who were “heroes two years ago and now they are treated like zeros”.
His sister Sylvie Ouellet saw her son excluded from the hockey team because he was not vaccinated. “He can’t play hockey, but he goes to school with the same boys. It’s discrimination,” said M.me Ouellette, who arrived in Ottawa on Monday.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
She is also not afraid of police intervention. “It can’t be worse than it is. The mandates must fall. There is a lot of division. People are unhappy. There are many families who no longer speak to each other. »
For the past two days, she has been sleeping in her car in a parking lot in downtown Ottawa. “We pay the parking lot to the owner. »
Around 10 p.m., the police force was less visible, and fences stood around the Château Laurier. Around 300 protesters were still at the scene. The police operation will continue day and night and will last as long as it takes, Ottawa Police Service Chief Steve Bell said during a press conference.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Police officers standing guard in front of the Château Laurier
“We are in control of the situation on the ground and we continue to move forward to regain control of our streets. The methodical plan, well supported by police resources, that we have developed will take time. We intend to complete it safely. »
The Farfadaas camp dislodged
There was almost nothing left Friday morning of the headquarters of the Farfadaas on the Place des Festivals in Gatineau. Only two trailers were still visible when passing The Press at the start of the day. The group of opponents of sanitary measures had taken up residence there since the end of January, but the Superior Court gave it 24 hours to leave the premises on Thursday. He moved into the parking lot of a church a few kilometers from downtown before being kicked out a few hours later.