| Translate This News In |
|---|
The police chief of Ottawa was fired on Tuesday (February 15) following criticism of his inaction in the face of trucker protests that have crippled Canada’s capital for more than two weeks, while activists across the US border have reduced their blockades to just one.
The dual developments came a day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked Canada’s Emergencies Act and promised to take strong legal and financial steps to put an end to protestors criticising the country’s COVID-19 limitations and Trudeau’s administration in Ottawa and across the world.
After failing to act decisively against the bumper-to-bumper demonstration by hundreds of truck drivers, Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly was fired. Many neighbours have complained of being harassed and intimidated on the streets as a result of the so-called Freedom Convoy’s protests.
Sloly stated in a statement that he done everything he could to keep the city safe, describing the crisis as “extraordinary and unanticipated.”
The number of vehicles involved in the roadblock in the city’s heart remained at 360, down from a peak of about 4,000, according to Ottawa’s police board. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Ontario Provincial Police set up a command centre to take command of the situation, relegating Ottawa police to a secondary position.
Interim Ottawa Police Chief Steve Bell believes authorities have reached a tipping point: “I believe we now have the resources and allies to bring this occupation to a safe conclusion.”
According to police, the closure of the blockage left only one impeded border crossing, at Emerson, Manitoba, which borders North Dakota. The Mounties also expressed confidence that the demonstrators will leave by Wednesday.
Over the weekend, police breached the roadblock of the Ambassador Bridge, the biggest and most vital crossing between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, detaining scores of protesters. Both countries’ auto manufacturing was hampered by the nearly week-long strike, but it was returning to normal on Tuesday.
Traffic was also moving again at the Pacific Highway border crossing south of Vancouver, opposite Washington state, according to authorities. Officers ordered demonstrators out late Monday, according to the Mounties, and some were arrested.
Truck driver Erik Mueller, who resigned his job to join the Ottawa blockage, called the emergency measures aimed at the truckers “crazy.”
Wayne Narvey said he took a risk a week ago when he drove his 30-year-old mobile home through a snowfall from New Brunswick to the capital.
The government can use Canada’s Emergencies Act to prohibit blockades and begin taking trucks away. It is forbidden to bring children to illegal protest places, according to officials. The presence of youngsters, according to authorities, has caused complications in the Ottawa confrontation.
The government can also put truckers’ bank accounts and licences on hold, as well as crowd-funding platforms that assist the blockades. Officials, too.
The government can even order tow trucks to remove rigs under the emergency measures. Some towing businesses have been hesitant to participate in the past out of sympathy for the drivers or fear of violence.
“Hopefully the police can move in the next few days, hopefully sooner,” said Ontario Premier Doug Ford, whose province encompasses both Ottawa and Windsor.
Trudeau’s decision to use the Emergencies Act came after he became increasingly frustrated with the government’s slowness and fear of violence.
The gun seizure in Alberta demonstrated that “you’ve got a very limited, hardened core driven by ideology,” according to Canadian Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino. “We’ve been lucky in that there hasn’t been any mass violence so far.”
