Mayor Jim Watson of Ottawa has declared a state of emergency to deal with a nine-day demonstration over the government's Covid-19 vaccination mandate that has disturbed the heart of the Canadian city.
According to a statement released by the city on Sunday, the declaration "reflects the extreme danger and threat to citizens' safety and security presented by the ongoing demonstrations and underscores the need for help from other jurisdictions and levels of government."
According to media reports, Ottawa Police Service Chief Peter Sloly stated at a special meeting of the police board that his department "does not have sufficient resources to fully and effectively manage this crisis while sufficiently and effectively delivering policing in this city."
Thousands of demonstrators, according to Watson, are "calling the shots" and have "out of control" the situation, in which trucks have congested residential streets and kept their horns honking late into the night. "They have considerably more people than we have police officers," the Mayor told an Ottawa radio station. "I've suggested to the chief that we need to be much more flexible and aggressive when it comes to these activities."
Approximately 5,000 people, as well as 1,000 tractor-trailers and personal automobiles, gathered in downtown Ottawa on Saturday for the second week of a demonstration aimed to voice opposition to the Justin Trudeau-led government's vaccination requirement for truckers crossing the Canada-US border.
The demonstration turned into an occupation during the last week, and Sloly described it as a "siege" this weekend, while a local councillor branded it an act of "terrorism," following accusations of attacks and vandalism by protestors.
Several arrests have been made, and over 450 tickets have been issued. Residents of Ottawa, on the other hand, demand harsher action and have petitioned Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to do so. He has so far refused to accede to one main demand that the Canadian Armed Forces disperse the protesters and their cars.
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