Wellington Street was eerily deserted on Sunday morning in Ottawa after more than three weeks of uninterrupted protests in the capital, while nearly 200 people were arrested.
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On this 24th day since the “freedom convoy” arrived in Ottawa, only a small group of protesters remained in the baseball stadium parking lot near Coventry Road.
Otherwise, the rest of the city was freed from the protesters who had occupied it since January 29. Despite everything, the police maintained their bans on driving in the city center on Sunday morning and continued to arrest people who crossed their roadblocks.
“We continue to maintain a police presence in and around the area of the unlawful protest. We use fencing to ensure that the land regained is not lost,” police said.
That said, a sign that the tension was much lower after two days of police operations, arrests and jostling between officers and demonstrators, the police had abandoned their riot gear on Sunday morning.
New arrests
In addition, the police said in the morning that they have now made 191 arrests of demonstrators. Additionally, 57 vehicles were towed away, while those obstructing Kent Street and Bay Street were cleared.
Among the demonstrators arrested, there is another leader of the “convoy”, “Freedom George”, who is due to appear on Sunday to answer five counts.
“If you participate in this demonstration, we will try to identify you and follow up with financial penalties and criminal charges,” the Ottawa police reiterated on Sunday morning, seeking to discourage the last diehards.
Despite everything, a hard core of demonstrators sought to organize themselves to gather outside the capital
“It’s not over, we haven’t left, we’re relocating, everyone is still there,” a protester told the TVA Nouvelles team.
On social networks, the demonstrators wish to resume their activity, but in a place which is still unknown. Recall that leader Pat King wanted to retreat to the truck stop in Arnprior, 45 minutes from Ottawa
On the side of Parliament, the elected officials resumed, at 7 a.m., the debates on the triggering of the Emergency Measures Act, invoked to give more power to the government in order to put an end to the demonstrations and blockades which punctuated the country. since the end of January.