Status: 08.02.2022 20:06
Truck drivers have been paralyzing Ottawa for almost two weeks. Your protest against Corona measures has taken on a life of its own, has become a happening. Citizens complain about restrictions – and about US influence on truckers.
They still pull through the center of Ottowa with their wide trucks. Hundreds of truck drivers and their supporters have been blocking the Canadian metropolis for twelve days now to protest the corona measures and the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
He spoke up for the first time. Canadians have a right to protest, disagree with their government and speak out, he said – a right that will always be defended. “But to be clear: you don’t have the right to block our economy, or our democracy, or the daily lives of our fellow citizens. It has to stop.”
A protest takes on a life of its own
It is doubtful whether Trudeau’s words left a special impression on the truckers. Because the protest, which was originally only directed against the mandatory corona vaccination for travel between Canada and the USA, has taken on a life of its own and has also become a happening.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson says what is happening goes “far beyond normal protests.” Because: “People camp, have a barbecue, come with suckling pigs on a spit, build whirlpools and bouncy castles.” Older citizens of the city would no longer dare to go out into the streets and young families with children would no longer sleep – “because fireworks are set off all night”.
A “complete recklessness,” says Watson, who declared a state of emergency over the weekend to give the security forces more powers when they take action against the blockers.
The blockade has also caused a major traffic jam on the Ambassador Bridge, which crosses the Detroit River on the US-Canada border.
Image: AP
Unprecedented “Siege”
They are to be supported by federal police officers because, according to Watson, the number of demonstrators is far greater than that of the city’s police officers. Ottawa is experiencing its worst emergency in history, the mayor notes. Police Chief Peter Sloly was just as sharp, speaking of a “siege” that he had “never experienced before in our democracy.” Police meanwhile prohibited police from taking fuel and other supplies to rallies and arrested some protesters.
And yet many residents feel abandoned by the city. People have been begging for help for days, says resident Zexi Lee, and now they are at a point where they have to help themselves. Some Ottawa residents filed a $10 million lawsuit against the organizers of the protests.
But such a lawsuit can take time, so far a court in the city issued a horn ban – which is probably cold consolation for the capital city dwellers.
Financed by crowdfunding
The truckers, in turn, finance themselves through crowdfunding platforms, where they collect for their protest. They are also supported by Republican politicians from the USA, including ex-President Donald Trump. He described Trudeau as a “radical left-wing lunatic” who “destroyed Canada with insane corona measures”.
Canadian Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino urged US politicians to stay out of Canada’s internal affairs. “We have to be vigilant about possible foreign interference. We are Canadians, we have our own laws.”
Trudeau has since pledged the support of the Canadian federal government to the city of Ottawa and the province of Ontario. Mayor Watson had previously asked the government to deploy 1,800 federal police officers.
There are “more people in the hospitals in Canada than here at the protests”. The demonstrators had the opportunity to make their position clear – “but now withdraw!“.