Police ticketing, warning truckers to leave Canada's capital

Police ticketing, warning truckers to leave Canada’s capital

Updated: Feb 16, 2022 / 11:11 AM CST

Surrounded by trucks, two protesters carry canoe paddles as flagpoles, Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022 in Ottawa. Trucks in Canada that have been clogging crossings at the U.S. border for more than two weeks have abandoned all but one of their blockades. Canadian authorities say they’re confident that protesters at the crossing in Manitoba will be gone by Wednesday.(Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Ottawa police trying to break the nearly three-week siege of the capital by truckers protesting Canada’s COVID-19 restrictions began handing out leaflets Wednesday warning drivers to leave immediately or risk arrest.

Authorities in yellow “police liaison” vests went from rig to rig, knocking on the doors of the trucks parked outside Parliament, to inform truckers they could also lose their licenses and see their vehicles seized under Canada’s Emergencies Act.

Police also began ticketing vehicles.

Some truckers ripped up the order, and one protester shouted, “I will never go home!” At least one trucker pulled away from Parliament Hill.

Marie Eye, 43, of Victoriaville, Quebec, who has been making soup for the protesters, said she doubted police would be able to remove the trucks or the protesters.

“Well, so far they are just a piece of paper,” she said of the printed warnings. “We will see what happens. I don’t think they have the manpower to do it.”

The warnings came just days after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the emergency law, which gave authorities power to ban the blockades and tow away the trucks.

Since late January, protesters in trucks and other vehicles have jammed the streets of the capital and obstructed border crossings, decrying vaccine mandates for truckers and other COVID-19 precautions and condemning Trudeau’s Liberal government.

In Ottawa, the bumper-to-bumper demonstrations by the so-called Freedom Convoy have infuriated many residents, who have complained of being harassed and intimidated on the clogged streets.

Police in Ottawa were optimistic they could gain control in the coming days after Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act on Monday.

Over the past weeks, authorities have hesitated to move against the protesters, citing in some cases a lack of manpower and fears of violence.

Trudeau’s decision came amid growing frustration with government inaction. Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly lost his job this week after he failed to move decisively against the demonstrators.

Interim Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell said Tuesday he believes authorities have reached a turning point: “I believe we now have the resources and partners to put a safe end to this occupation.”

But protesters in the capital appeared to be entrenched. On Tuesday, Ottawa officials said 360 vehicles remained involved in the blockade in the city’s core, down from a high of roughly 4,000.

“They don’t want to give this up because this is their last stand, their last main hub,” said Michael Kempa, a criminology professor at the University of Ottawa.

Even after the warnings, a few protesters roasted a pig on the street in front of Parliament, and a child played with blocks in a small playground area on a road lined with trucks.

Police in the capital appeared to be following the playbook that authorities used over the weekend to break the blockade at the Ambassador Bridge connecting Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit. Police there handed out leaflets informing protesters they risked arrest. After many demonstrators left and the protest had dwindled, police moved in and made dozens of arrests.

Meanwhile, just one blockade remained at the U.S. border after several convoys moved out earlier this week.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police said they were confident protesters obstructing the border crossing at Emerson, Manitoba, opposite North Dakota, soon would be leaving and be gone by Wednesday.