Ottawa “out of control” for protest against health measures for the coronavirus in Canada

The situation in Ottawa It is “out of control,” said the mayor of the Canadian capital on Sunday, whose center has been blocked for more than a week by opponents of sanitary measures against covid.

The protests, which were held in Ottawa for the first time on Saturday the 29th, spread this weekend to other large Canadian cities while on Sunday dozens of trucks and protesters kept the center of the Canadian capital paralyzed.

“The situation is currently out of control because the protesters impose their law,” Mayor Jim Watson told local radio. Protesters “They are many more than our policemen.”

“We are losing the battle,” the mayor admitted (…) we must recover the city,” he remarked.

Watson called the behavior of protesters blocking streets and truckers honking their horns “unacceptable.”

The movement, called “Freedom Convoy”, initially aimed against the decision to force truckers to be vaccinated against covid to cross the border with the United States. The protest later turned into a mobilization against all health measures and against the very government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The protesters say they intend to stay on the streets until all health restrictions are lifted.

Similar but smaller protests took place in other large Canadian cities such as Toronto, Quebec and Winnipeg.

The Ottawa Police Chief regretted not having sufficient means to end what he described as a “state of siege” and asked for “supplemental resources”.

The Ottawa police expect to receive 250 troops from the Royal Canadian Gendarmerie; a body of the federal police.