Demonstration in Ottawa | The police negotiate the departure of the demonstrators

(Ottawa) The deafening sound of car horns played on the nerves of downtown Ottawa residents throughout the weekend. Mayor Jim Watson wants the departure of the demonstrators who have paralyzed the city center since Saturday. “This is just the beginning,” launched participants of the Canada Unity movement, installed in the polar cold at Confederation Park on Sunday. They say they are ready to stay for weeks, even months, “as long as necessary”. However, the police are preparing to negotiate until the night to convince them to move.

Mylene Crete
The Press

Lila Dussault
The Press

“We have officers contacting the convoy organizers asking them to leave as they thought they would,” Ottawa Police spokesperson Amy Gagnon said.

Clusters of peace officers were prominent in downtown Canada’s capital on Sunday, walking through crowds. The bill for this heavy police presence is estimated at around $800,000 a day.

At the same time, the deputies who were to travel to parliament for the resumption of work in the House of Commons on Monday were awaiting instructions from the sergeant-at-arms to find out if they could go there. More of them could choose to attend the debates virtually.

The echoes of horns resumed at sunrise in downtown the Canadian capital on Sunday, stormed by thousands of people and vehicles until the middle of the night on Saturday. The demonstrators, in support of truckers against compulsory vaccination, demand the end of all sanitary measures.

“Residents feel like prisoners in their own house,” the mayor of Ottawa lamented in an interview broadcast on CBC Sunday, calling on the police to move them.

“Downtown residents have had enough,” City Councilor Catherine McKenney tweeted. Horns all night long, swastikas, people urinating and defecating in public. […] Residents have a right to peace and respite from these disgusting acts. »

Police investigations for threats and vandalism have been opened, in particular concerning the desecration of the statue of Terry Fox and the National War Memorial.

The convoy parked on Wellington Street, opposite the parliament, stretched for a few kilometers, Sunday at the end of the day, and paralyzed a good part of the city center. Other streets have been blocked by the City with large snowplows to prevent vehicles from piling up.

In a mid-afternoon statement, police said they would begin moving crowds and trucks out of the city center. “This approach will call on large police and municipal staff,” she insisted.

On Saturday, protesters intimidated soup kitchen volunteers for food. A user was also assaulted by demonstrators, and the security guard who came to his aid was greeted with threats and racist insults.

Swastikas on placards and flags sparked outrage. The use of this symbol has been condemned by Transport Minister Omar Alghabra, New Democratic Party leader Jagmeet Singh and several Jewish organizations.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau did not comment on Sunday. However, he plans to make a statement and answer questions from reporters on Monday morning.

Not all in the same basket, says Legault

Prime Minister François Legault remained cautious about the protests, which he refused to condemn outright.

“It’s important not to put all the truckers, all the antis, all the unvaccinated in the same package,” he said. Truckers, we need them to deliver food, goods. You have to try to reach out. »

The Prime Minister recalled that the compulsory vaccination imposed by the federal government was a measure reserved for “truckers who come and go from the United States”, and not for those who only travel in Quebec and Canada.

To those who would be tempted to embark on a movement of civil disobedience, Mr. Legault asks them to show solidarity with the majority of Quebecers.

“We’re not going anywhere”

The demonstrators encountered by The Press Sunday morning had no intention of packing up. “We’re going to stay until we run out of gas or we get evacuated,” said Vince and Charlene, two 30-somethings stationed near the National War Memorial, who didn’t want to leave. further identify. Several tanks of gasoline were piled up in the box of their van. The couple spent the night from Saturday to Sunday driving their van.

The organizers of the Canada Unity movement were for their part installed in Confederation Park, a little further. Trailers, generators and several motorized recreational vehicles lined the Rideau Canal. “We are a group that worked very hard to put all this in place,” explained a man who said his name was James Oswald, from Kingston. He himself has been part of the organizing committee for six months.

In one of the trailers, bags of food were prepared. “We’re going to stay until he [le premier ministre Justin Trudeau] gone, Mr. Oswald said. We are ready to stay for months. We’re not going anywhere. »

Kenny Vallières, 35, arrived from Montreal on Saturday to support the protest. He slept in a park, next to a fire surrounded by bales of hay. “We want to be heard and respected, he hammered. The situation is serious. We trivialize what the non-vaccinated live! »

“We are here because we have no choice,” added Jamie Hart, a Canadian army veteran and driver of one of Canada Unity’s vehicles. According to him, Canada is a symbol, everywhere on the planet, of peace and freedom, but more on its own territory. “I will stay as long as they [les organisateurs] stay! »

“It’s our freedom that goes on fire,” said another protester, who preferred not to be photographed.

With The Canadian Press