Police warn truckers to leave Ottawa

Ottawa, February 16

The police on Wednesday began warning truckers who have been protesting the country’s Covid restrictions and clogging the streets of Ottawa for nearly three weeks that they must leave now.

Officers knocked on the doors of the rigs parked outside the Parliament building and handed out notices informing drivers they risk arrest and the loss of their licenses under Canada’s Emergencies Act.

The police also began ticketing vehicles. Some truckers ripped up the order. The warnings came just days after PM Justin Trudeau invoked the law and gave authorities power to ban the blockades and tow away the trucks.

On Tuesday, Ottawa’s police chief was ousted on Tuesday amid criticism of his inaction against the trucker protests that have paralysed Canada’s capital for over two weeks, while the number of blockades maintained by demonstrators at the US border dropped to just one.

Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly lost his job after failing to move decisively against the bumper-to-bumper demonstration by hundreds of truck drivers. The protests by the so-called Freedom Convoy have infuriated many residents, who have complained of being harassed and intimidated on the streets. — AP