He judges the situation “out of control”. Jim Watson, the mayor of Ottawa, the capital of Canada, declared a state of emergency on Sunday February 6 in his city paralyzed by opponents of the health measures taken due to the Covid-19 epidemic. The protests began in Ottawa on January 29 and spread Saturday and Sunday to other major Canadian cities: Toronto, Quebec or Winnipeg.
The declaration of a state of emergency “Reflects the grave danger as well as the threat to the safety and security of residents posed by the continued protests and underscores the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government,” the town hall said in a press release. Such a measure “also provides greater flexibility within the municipal administration to allow the City of Ottawa to manage business continuity to ensure essential services” residents, she says.
Before declaring a state of emergency, Jim Watson judged “the situation completely out of control, (in Ottawa) because it is the protesters who make the law”. “We are losing the battle, (…) we must take back our city”, hammered the mayor. He estimated “unacceptable” the behavior of the protesters who block the streets of the city center and relentlessly honk the horns of their trucks.
The Ottawa police, criticized for not having been able to prevent the paralysis of the center of the capital, for its part announced its intention to prevent the supply of the protesters, in particular with fuel. “Anyone who tries to provide material support (fuel etc…) to the demonstrators risks being arrested. This measure is now in force”, she warned in a tweet. In the evening, she indicated that she had proceeded to “several arrests”. The Ottawa police will soon receive the reinforcement of some 250 members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), a federal police force.
IMPORTANT: Anyone attempting to deliver support materials (gas, etc.) to protesters will be subject to arrest. Enforcement measures are underway. #ottawa #ottnew pic.twitter.com/EU8b2XUVXL
— Ottawa Police (@OttawaPolice) February 6, 2022
7 people arrested, 100 tickets issued in Demonstration-Related Enforcement #ottnewshttps://t.co/SgiCdTuEf2
— Ottawa Police (@OttawaPolice) February 7, 2022
Originally, the objective of the movement, baptized “freedom convoy”, was to protest against the decision to oblige, since mid-January, truckers to be vaccinated to cross the border between Canada and the United States. -United. But it quickly turned into a movement against health measures as a whole and also, for some, against the government of Justin Trudeau. Protesters say they want to continue their occupation until health restrictions are lifted.