It was dead calm in the vicinity of the National Assembly, Friday morning, the day after the first gathering of truckers coming mainly from the North Shore.
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Only the dozens of police officers from the Quebec City Police Service (SPVQ) and the Sûreté du Québec (SQ) who ensured the security of the sector were still on site.
An empty platform in front of parliament and three heavy trucks parked on the side of the road are the only remnants of the demonstration the day before.
Other convoys from Beauce, Gaspésie, Trois-Rivières, the South Shore of Montreal and Baie-Saint-Paul, among others, are however expected on Friday and Saturday.
However, they could come up against certain obstacles since a counter-demonstration is currently being organized in Quebec. Nearly 400 people said they responded to the call to block convoys from the group “Observatory of conspiratorial delirium in Quebec” on social networks.
Lessons from Ottawa
The first demonstration the day before was done with respect, according to the authorities.
At the SPVQ, it is said to have had good cooperation from the organizers of the convoy for this first outing, despite the delivery of 14 statements of offense to demonstrators.
However, the police refuse to elaborate more on their game plan and on their operation the day before, to avoid compromising their deployment for the next few days.
But Quebec seems to have learned lessons from the siege of truckers that has been held in Ottawa for more than a week. Earlier this week, the deputy director of territorial surveillance of the SPVQ, André Turcotte, indicated that he had had discussions with his colleagues in the federal capital.
“I am not here to judge the actions or the work of my colleagues in Ottawa. We have had discussions since the beginning of the situation. […] and we have exchanges with them which are very profitable for us, ”he said.