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Police increase presence in Ottawa as ‘siege’ crackdown expected


Two buses of police have moved into the central core of Canada’s capital, as officers warned participants in a nearly three-week blockade that they could face “severe penalties” if they do not leave the area.

A leaflet handed out by the Ottawa Police Service on Thursday, and shared by Canadian journalists on social media, told members of the so-called “Freedom Convoy” occupation that they “will face severe penalties under provincial and federal legislation”.

That could include arrest and criminal charges, seizure or removal of their vehicles, and a suspension of their driver’s licenses, the leaflet states.

The apparent reinforcements added to an already heavy security presence in the central area, but there was no immediate sign of a move to clear the protesters.

Approximately 400 vehicles are still involved in what Ottawa residents and political leaders have described as an “occupation” and “siege” of the city’s downtown core.

“We are going to take back the entirety of the downtown core and every occupied space. We are going to remove this unlawful protest. We will return our city to a state of normalcy,” Steve Bell, interim chief of the Ottawa Police Service, said in a statement on Wednesday evening.

A large group of Canadian truckers and their supporters descended on Parliament Hill late last month to protest a mandatory vaccination requirement at the Canada-US border. Hundreds have remained in Ottawa, demanding an end to all COVID-19 curbs in the country. Others have called for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to be removed from office.

Blockades at key points along the US-Canada border also were erected in support for the central protest in Ottawa, disrupting traffic and commercial trade between the two countries, but those were dismantled over the past several days.

Earlier this week, Trudeau invoked an emergency measure for the first time in the country’s history to give his federal government sweeping powers to disperse the blockades and protests, and provide support for law enforcement agencies.

“It’s high time that these illegal and dangerous activities stop,” Trudeau said on Thursday morning in the House of Commons, where lawmakers were debating the use of the Emergencies Act. The order needs to be approved in parliament to remain in place.

“They are a threat to our economy and our relationship with trading partners,” he said. “They are a threat to public safety.”

Jagmeet Singh, leader of the left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP), has criticised Trudeau for a “lack of leadership” during the protests but said the NDP would support the Emergencies Act invocation – which means it will be approved.

“It should have never come to this,” Singh said in parliament on Thursday. “We will withdraw our support if at any point we feel these powers are being misused.”

Meanwhile, Ottawa protest organisers – among them several far-right activists – have remained defiant despite the increased police presence and the use of the Emergencies Act.

Tamara Lich, a prominent fundraiser for and organiser of the convoy, said in a video posted by CTV News late on Wednesday: “I’m ready, I’m not afraid, and we’re going hold the line.”

“I’m prepared sit on my a** and watch them hit me with pepper spray,” said another one of the leaders, Pat King, who is known for espousing hateful, white supremacist views online.

Authorities have raised concerns about the potential for violence, as far-right groups are involved in the occupation.

The federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) have sent officers to Ottawa, and public broadcaster Radio-Canada reported on Thursday that the province of Quebec was preparing to provide police.

This week, the RCMP arrested 13 people at a border blockade in the western province of Alberta after a large cache of weapons was seized. Four people also were charged with conspiracy to commit murder after police said the group had “a willingness to use force against the police if any attempts were made to disrupt the blockade”.





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