Police keep a watchful eye on protesters in Ottawa on Sunday. COURTESY
The mayor of Canada's capital Ottawa has declared a state of emergency in response to more than a week of truckers' protests against Covid restrictions. Jim Watson said the city was "completely out of control", with demonstrators outnumbering police. He said the protests posed a threat to the safety and security of residents.
The truckers have paralysed the centre of Ottawa with vehicles and tents blocking roads. The "Freedom Convoy" began as a movement against a government requirement that the truckers be vaccinated against Covid. Speaking to Canadian radio station CFRA, Mr Watson said the protesters were behaving increasingly "insensitively" by continuously "blaring horns and sirens, [setting off] fireworks and turning it into a party".
"Clearly, we are outnumbered and we are losing this battle," he said, adding: "This has to be reversed - we have to get our city back." The mayor did not give specific details about what measures he might impose, but police said on Sunday that they would step up enforcement, including possible arrests of those seeking to aid the protesters. A state of emergency will give the city additional powers, including access to equipment required by frontline workers and emergency services.
A statement from the city authorities said the state of emergency "reflects the serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents posed by the ongoing demonstrations and highlights the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government". Many Ottawa residents have objected to the demonstrations. Complaints range from idling trucks that impede traffic and makeshift wooden structures in city parks to lost income and fears of harassment and even violence.
Police have said they are concerned about how the convoy has attracted extremist rhetoric. One demonstrator who drove for hours to join the protest in Ottawa, Kimberly Ball, told AFP news agency that the protest was "about our freedom". "A couple of people we know, friends, lost their jobs because of these mandates," she said, adding that she had concerns about the safety and effectiveness of Covid vaccines.
Covid-19 vaccines have cut the risk of severe illness in those infected with the virus and serious side effects are extremely rare. Canadians are broadly supportive of vaccine mandates - nearly 83% of the eligible population is fully vaccinated. Organisers of the Freedom Convoy have promised to protest peacefully and respect the law but also to "stay as long as it takes". The movement was sparked by the introduction last month of a mandate for truckers to be vaccinated against Covid-19 when crossing the US-Canada border.
The protesters have since gathered in downtown Ottawa near Parliament Hill, and their demands have grown from reversing the border vaccine mandate to ending all such mandates nationwide and opposition to the government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
On Friday, former US President Donald Trump offered his support to the truckers and described Mr Trudeau as a "far left lunatic" who had "destroyed Canada with insane Covid mandates".
In response, a former US ambassador to Canada, Bruce Heyman, tweeted that Mr Trump should not be involving himself in Canada's domestic issues and that his comments were "a threat not just to the US but to all democracies".
A recent opinion poll by Abacus Data suggested 68% of Canadians felt they had "very little in common" with the protesters, while 32% said they "had a lot in common" with the truckers. GoFundMe said on Friday it would withhold millions of dollars raised for the truckers, citing police reports of violence.
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