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Canada’s public safety minister said Monday that Americans should stay out of his country’s internal affairs, following other Canadian politicians in criticising prominent Republicans who have expressed support for the COVID-19 protests that have engulfed downtown Ottawa for more than a week.
The mayor requested over 2,000 additional police officers a day after the city declared a state of emergency to help suppress the rowdy nightly demonstrations organised by the so-called Freedom Truck Convoy, which has paralysed the Canadian capital’s business area with hundreds of parked trucks.
People who reside near Parliament Hill, the federal government’s seat, have been enraged by the protests.
Embattled Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly described the rally as a “extraordinary protest never witnessed in Canada,” admitting that officials failed to plan for it to extend longer than three days.
Many Republicans have expressed sympathy for the protests, including former President Donald Trump, who described Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau as a “far left madman” who has “destroyed Canada with absurd COVID mandates.”
Protesters have stated that they will not leave until all mandatory vaccines and COVID-19 limitations are repealed. They also demanded that Trudeau’s government be removed, despite the fact that it is only responsible for a small number of the restrictions, the most of which were imposed by provincial governments.
After crowdfunding site GoFundMe indicated it will refund the great majority of the millions of dollars received by demonstrators, prominent Republicans such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton objected.
After deciding that protest organisers’ actions breached the site’s terms of service by participating in unlawful behaviour, the site said it shut off financing for them. The demonstration has been dubbed an occupation by Ontario Premier Doug Ford.
“Patriotic Texans donated to Canadian truckers’ laudable cause,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said on Twitter. “Government doesn’t have the right to force you to comply with their arbitrary regulations,” Texas Senator Ted Cruz remarked on Fox News.”
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson wrote to Trudeau and the minister of public safety, saying that “what was once billed as a peaceful protest has now morphed into a siege of our downtown region” involving 400 to 500 vehicles. He requested an increase of 1,800 police officers.
The minister of intergovernmental affairs, Dominic LeBlanc, blamed GOP meddling for inspiring unruly conduct and aiding to fund organisations that break Canadian law. Bill Blair, the Minister of Emergency Preparedness, said Paxton made a mistake by commenting on it.
Former US ambassador to Canada Bruce Heyman suggested the US should stop funding and interfering in Canada’s domestic affairs.
Thousands of signs ranging from “no more mandates” to “freedom of choice” to “truck you Trudeau” and “the epidemic wrecked our liberty” were displayed on the roadway in front of Parliament Hill.
Trudeau has referred to the demonstrators as “fringe,” while the opposition Conservative Party has called for a “olive branch” to be extended to them. Some Conservative legislators have visited with them and taken selfies with them, including one who is competing for the party’s leadership.
Sloly stated that his department’s resources are insufficient. Late Sunday, police took steps to cut off demonstrators’ access to fuel.
Residents of the building south of Parliament Hill, according to Matias Munoz, were already exhausted Saturday night as the protest noise blared through their windows for the ninth night in a row.
Monoz said the carpet and floor had been scorched, and there were charcoal fire-starter bricks strewn around the lobby when he arrived downstairs Sunday morning.
Two males lit a package of bricks in the lobby and taped or tied the front door handles together before fleeing through a side door before daybreak, according to surveillance video. According to Munoz, the footage also shows another man entering the structure and quickly extinguishing the fire.
“Someone trying to do something as diabolical as tape the door shut so people can’t exit if there’s a fire in the main lobby — it’s terror, isn’t it?” Munoz remarked.
Police in Ottawa declined to provide any information, citing the continuing investigation.
In other news, Ontario Superior Court Justice Hugh McLean issued a 10-day order to stop truckers from blowing their horns repeatedly on city streets in downtown Ottawa.
