The Mayor of Canada’s capital Ottawa, Jim Watson, has declared a state of emergency following more than a week of the Freedom Convoy truckers’ protests against vaccine mandates and Government overreach. BBC News has more.
Jim Watson said the city was “completely out of control”, with demonstrators outnumbering police.
He said the protests posed a threat to residents’ safety. There have also been reports of racial attacks.
Ottawa’s centre has been paralysed, with vehicles and tents blocking roads.
The “Freedom Convoy” was sparked by the introduction last month of a new rule that all truckers must be vaccinated to cross the US-Canada border, but the protests have morphed into broader challenges to Covid health restrictions.
The protesters have since gathered in downtown Ottawa near Parliament Hill, and their demands have grown to include ending all such mandates nationwide and opposing the Government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
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 by bringing them supplies like fuel, toilet paper and food.
A state of emergency will give the city additional powers, including access to equipment required by frontline workers and emergency services.
The protests expose a deep fracture in Canadian society, with a recent opinion poll suggesting 68% of Canadians felt they had “very little in common” with the protesters, while 32% said they “had a lot in common” with them.
Worth reading in full (though be warned it is the BBC so comes with the standard bias).
Discussion
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If Jim Watson doesn’t understand why the number of protesters exceeds the number of police, how is he even mayor? Moreover, afaik, the truckers and supporters have demonstrated utmost consideration for others, ensuring things like emergency vehicles can get through unimpeded. That he thinks it’s a ‘battle’ is also very telling, that a ‘public servant’ declares himself in opposition to the very people he’s employed by to serve is unconsionable.
Also, run this by me: on what charge can police arrest someone who’s not breaking any law, but simply giving aid to another? That’s the stuff of dictators and despots, isn’t it? Both Watson and Trudeau have lost all moral authority.
As if a warning about the BBC bias needed to be a postscript. Having followed the unfolding truckers convoy reports on line from a variety of sources it is nothing like described by the Blatant Brainwashing Corp. The truckers gave a measured summary (fronted by 3 medics who have chosen to speak out) of what they wanted from the government and repeatedly said it was a non violent protest. On the ground interviews with the truckers are revealing….ordinary brave people out in all weathers to call time on the Canadian puppet tyrant and all the others in place across 5he globe. Such people are inspiring and show the best of humanity…..not the bought and paid for immoral specimens trying their utmost to extinguish freedom of choice and bodily autonomy.
“Blatant Brainwashing Corp”
Best new moniker yet for BBC. Good one Vivaldi!
Revolting BBC filth.
Best of luck to the freedom fighters in wonderful Canada 🍁.
Predictably, the question of vaccine mandates rapidly degenerates into a bun throwing contest between what we are supposed to call the “Right” and the “Left”. This is the sort of bread and circuses that our esteemed leaders hoped for, after all, two ferrets fighting in a sack are easy to manage. In reality this is not a matter of political identity all, but a matter of basic human rights and liberty. The axis is actually Libertarian – Authoritarian. Anti-mandate groups have been slandered as racist, phobic, Neanderthal types by groups that are themselves highly intolerant of a diversity of views whilst touting “diversity” themselves in industrial quantities.. We have a problem with our polity, especially in the Western world where hysteria has taken hold whether it be Covid, Climate Change (aka global warming), Russia, China, asteroids etc. Enough of this nonsense.
“reports of racial attacks” – give me strength. “reports”, not evidence. another establishment lie but we stopped counting those a few million ago.
”A recent opinion poll suggesting…..” And we all know about the worth of THOSE, don’t we?
I’ve just heard there are threats to rescind licences.
don’t the normal population outnumber the police in normal times?
Keep truckin’ …… modern day freedom fighters.
State of emergency? Truckers who have cleared all roads for emergency vehicles, peacefully protesting mandated injections, Canadians out in the hundreds of thousands, 70 mile truck convoys? Yes, okay, a state of emergency? Not really. Just the government trying to upset this apple cart through any means at their disposal.
Yes, ”through any means”. And who’s to say what means those could be?
If the slave pass were actioned, they could do a lot more than just upset the apple-cart. They’d be able to devastate people’s lives for non compliance with any diktat – not just by rescinding licences but by taking away the right of access to anything that makes life worth living.
Ive friends at the protest and am a member of several groups supporting the convoys. The sheer amount of unity and what can only be termed love amongst the crowds and the truckers, is something I’ve never witnessed before on social media, tangible even through cyberspace. Far from the division they are trying to create, this convoy is bringing people together worldwide and inspiring others to follow suit in many other countries. I support the truckers wholeheartedly.
Watson can “have our city back” when Canadians get their country back!
“demonstrators outnumbering police”
That’s the way to do it.
I am so sick of this covid aka great reset nonsense. But I undertake as a duty to inform people about facts about cheaply, effectively and qucikly curing this so called virus symptoms. Search for c19ivermectin on your search engine. On that website you will find as of right now there are 142 studies. 93 of them are peer reviewed about curing covid19 with ivermectin. These are undeniable evidences. Get your ivermectin before it is too late https://ivmpharmacy.com
https://youtu.be/5rJMxzkfeMo
Nothing produced by the BBC is “worth reading in full”.
true!
The “emergency” is that trudy is too scared to run the gauntlet of anybody who is not a supporter of his woke tyranny.
He is the “Emergency”!
If the BBC has reported ‘racial attacks’, they haven’t happened.
The BBC is now just beyond an rational comment – it is a monster
BBC has just paid mouthy Labour Backbencher, Jess Phillips £15,000 of our money for one appearance on “Have I got News ( Lefty Views?) for You”?
FFS!
The Canadian truckers have been threatened with loss of their livelihood if they don’t obey the mandates and get vaxxed. They have been staying in Ottawa despite the bad weather and lack of provisions and are risking fines and arrests to exert pressure on officials. Despite the lack of objective press coverage, the truckers are inspiring people, all over the world.
The tyrants in government and their allies in big tech and the MSM are trying every dirty trick in their arsenal to try to shut down this peaceful protest against covid mandates. Besides declaring a state of emergency because of a peaceful protest, they have also:
1) Refused to turn over the $10M collected by GoFundMe on behalf of the truckers
2) Either ignored or distorted the news coverage of the protest. Besides a few members of the independent media like Rebel News, the MSM has had a dearth of reporters actually on the ground talking to any of the protesters.
3) They use the same minor incidents and pictures, over and over again to discredit the truckers despite lack of proof that these incidents were caused by any of the truckers themselves, as opposed to agent provocateurs or… Read more »
I was at the protest this past Saturday afternoon. A very windy, cold, but sunny day. Huge crowds the likes of which one rarely sees here. The vast majority of the people smiling, laughing and discussing the issues in a respectful if sometimes exuberant manner. People pick any trash up from the streets and deposit it in one of the many trash bags supplied by the protesters. Plenty of placards, both handmade and professionally printed, express displeasure with the current political regime. When I was there, the police presence was minimal. The number of large trucks was both intimidating and inspiring! Music playing, kids enjoying the bounce-houses and meeting the truckers.
The protest is contained in a relatively small multi-block area directly in front of Parliament Hill, where the streets are impassable. The authorities have closed roads to vehicle traffic, but not pedestrian traffic. The authorities also closed off-ramps of the main east-west highway across the city, even though the highway is far from the protests.
If the authorities think this is a truckers-only movement, they are sorely mistaken.
Waze maps link for a live-ish view of the traffic situation.
If they want to close the city to traffic I suggest the truckers make it a permanent closure.
Thank you. Hope you can supply more updates.
Good luck and God Bless.
I should note that while I support the protesters, keeping city streets blocked indefinitely is, as the wokies say, not sustainable. I despise the tactics of the cowardly politicians who refuse any dialogue with the protesters, and I despise the bullying tactics used by the militarized police. They are confiscating diesel fuel to freeze the truckers! One has to wonder how the politicos think the truckers will leave without fuel for their rigs.
If police move in on the protesters to remove them, I say they all just hop in their trucks and lock the doors. What are the police going to do about that? Cause a very ugly scene?
Some had swastika flags.
Yup, I’m sure they did, because when I go to protest about the loss of my liberty and legal rights I immediately reach for my Nazi paraphernalia which I keep close to hand for just such an occasion.
However, I can easily believe someone made a flag saying something like “I don’t want to live in a Nazi fascist state” and put a swastika image on that to emphasise the point but that sort of nuance would obviously be lost on the MSM (deliberately)
They perhaps had a swastika made of needles to show how they viewed those supporting vaxxpassen and medical coercion.
Swastika flag?…..’False Flag’ event staged by Trudeauites. It looked so obviously staged for the Media.
I expect there will be more to justify Police Violence ( see USA 6th Jan 2020 Capitol Riot)
I expect the CIA are now in place “advising ” the Canadians just how to proceed.
As far as I know, there was ONE Nazi flag and the origin isn’t clear. As you say, I think the most likely explanation is someone deliberately attempting to undermine the protest’s legitimacy, just like the guy who faked getting hit by a protester’s truck. Turns out he runs some kind of anti-racism organization that receives contracts from Trudeau.
True North news (tnc.news) has a zoomed in picture of the Nazi flag waver on their website and is offering over $6,000 to anyone who identifies the individual.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jif9cuxiHiU&t=633s&ab_channel=Kryptospotted
Pat King (one of the truckers organisers says here they know there are moles and infiltrators who have joined the truckers (probably with their Nazi flags and fake car accidents)
Mogwai posted this useful link on another thread, the daily update one.
Here’s Dr Paul Alexander and Dr Roger Hodkinson with the truckers and speaking out for the protest. So blown away with the calmness and dignified way in which they articulate their stance, given increased pressure and unlawful, desperate behaviour of the police force. The truckers have their own legal team, it’s the police and municipality whom are behaving in an underhand manner, e,g seizing fuel and leaving families without the ability to warm themselves, no biggie, “keep calm and carry on” is the overall advice. As long as the truckers remain peaceful and comply with the police, no worries. Props to them keeping their composure under such stressful circumstances. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3D3sYDMNiD4
They are all extremely impressive – Dr Hodgkinson blew me away – share widely
Giving people toilet paper a criminal offence…only in Trudeau Canada!
I hope the Truckers, the farmers and all their supporters can hold out. I really don’t think they can do otherwise. If they walk away without securing victory we can be certain that retribution will be swift and vicious.
The media and politicans and their craven Media will lie an lie to try and crush the spirit of freedom that challenges the Evil Trudeau Tyranny!
It needs ten million on the streets!
“Clearly, we are outnumbered and we are losing this battle,” he said,…. “
But, but it’s just fringe group with no support. LMAO
There you go!!!
BBC television lunchtime news HAS reported the Canadian trucker protest and for almost 10 SECONDS!!!
The protests expose a deep fracture in Canadian society, with a recent opinion poll suggesting 68% of Canadians felt they had “very little in common” with the protesters, while 32% said they “had a lot in common” with them.
I recall all the polls that predicted a huge Hillary Clinton landslide against Donald Trump and the polls that put Remain in a comfortable lead over the Leave campaign in the run-up to the Brexit referendum.
I’ve never trusted opinion polls since.
Sounds like they’ve got the percentages mixed up
Telling people they are in a minority is a very effective, easy strategy to demoralise them.
Cheers me to know that I am not one with the sheeple!
Me too. Telling me I am in a minority makes me feel good and proud. I’ve been part of minorities all my life and I certainly don’t let it bother me. In fact if I thought I was part of a majority I would be seriously worried about the state of my thinking.
same here always in the minority am used to it ! and so glad our minorty is really actually an awful lot of people a nd not as small a minority at all a s they would like us to believe
Cheers.
But most of us on here have no issues with being regarded as outside the herd – but some (many) people are terrified at the idea of not being part of the majority.
I should of known this would happen after I donated yesterday!