The conservatives “have to be careful not to alienate more moderate voters, who are generally not sympathetic to the protesters or right-wing populism more generally,” said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal. Trudeau’s Liberals look bad for allowing protesters to foments weeks of chaos in the capital city, he said, while the Conservatives look bad for championing protesters, many of them from the farthest fringes of the right. “The protest has given both the Liberals and the Conservatives a black eye,” said Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto. While most analysts doubt the protests will mark a historic watershed in Canadian politics, it has shaken both of Canada’s two major parties. MORE: Ambassador Bridge officially reopens after 7 days of protest “This is going to be a very big division in our country,” he said. Suitor believes the protests will divide the country, something he welcomes. Protesters had essentially occupied those streets for more than three weeks, embarrassing Trudeau and energizing Canada’s far right. “I think we’ve started something here,” said Mark Suitor, a 33-year-old protester from Hamilton, Ontario, speaking as police retook control of the streets around Parliament. Take them home immediately.The protest, which was first aimed at a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers but also encompassed fury over the range of COVID-19 restrictions and hatred of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, reflected the spread of disinformation in Canada and simmering populist and right-wing anger. As a showdown seemed to draw near, Canadian Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said: "To those who have children with them, this is no place for children. The presence of children also complicated the planning. looking at this and developing strategic plans and partnerships to manage a protest like this if it should occur in their cities." "I know there are police chiefs in the U.S. "There is not really a playbook," said David Carter, a professor at Michigan State University's School of Criminal Justice and a former police officer. Trucks were parked shoulder-to-shoulder downtown, some with tires removed to hamper towing. Some security experts said that dispersing the protest in Ottawa could be tricky and dangerous, with the potential for violence, and that a heavy-handed law enforcement response could be used as propaganda by antigovernment extremists. Trudeau complained on Thursday that "roughly half of the funding to the barricaders here is coming from the United States." conservatives such as Donald Trump have egged on the protests. The movement has drawn support from right-wing extremists and veterans, some of them armed - one reason authorities have hesitated to move against them.įox News personalities and U.S. The final blockade, in Manitoba, ended peacefully on Wednesday. Before authorities arrested dozens of protesters last weekend and lifted the siege, it disrupted the flow of auto parts between the two countries and forced the industry to curtail production. The biggest, most damaging of the blockades at the border took place at the Ambassador Bridge between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit. The protests by demonstrators in trucks, tractors and motor homes initially focused on Canada's vaccine requirement for truckers entering the country but soon morphed into a broader attack on COVID-19 precautions and Trudeau's government. Residents are terrorized," said Canadian Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino. We've seen apartment buildings that have been chained up. "We've seen people intimidated, harassed and threatened. The occupation has infuriated many Ottawa residents. Ottawa police likewise handed out leaflets for the second straight day demanding the truckers end the siege, and also helpfully placed notices on vehicles informing owners how and where to pick up their trucks if they are towed.ĭemonstrators and supporters of the protest movement gather on Thursday in downtown Ottawa. I do have the numbers in front of me," she said. On Thursday, Trudeau and some of his top ministers took turns warning the protesters to leave, in an apparent move by the government to avert a clash, or at least show it had gone the extra mile to avoid one.ĭeputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said the government began freezing truckers' accounts as threatened. Bell said police were working with child-welfare agencies to determine how to safely remove the youngsters before authorities move in.Įarly this week, the prime minister invoked Canada's Emergencies Act, empowering law enforcement authorities to declare the blockades illegal, tow away trucks, arrest the drivers, suspend their licenses and take other measures. Police were especially worried about the children among the protesters.
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