Politic?: Beyond Civil Disobedience

"We take no solace in these operational successes [coping with the truckers' convoy in the downtown core of Ottawa's Parliamentary Precinct]. The demonstrators in this red zone area remain highly organized, well-funded, and extremely committed to resisting efforts to the demonstration safety."
"This remains a very volatile and very dangerous demonstration."
"If you come to our city and commit a crime, we will investigate you."
"We are getting new intelligence every day. New allies in national and international security agencies are aiding us in understanding the depth and complexity, the resilience of what we're up against so we can make changes in real time."
"I learned from that [the events of January 6, 2020 in Washington at the storming of the Capitol] and the mistakes made."
Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly

"People are afraid, our downtown workers are afraid to go to work, the police are afraid to act, the city has denied me an official protest permit citing COVID concerns. I am not afraid."
"We'll be far enough away from the occupiers that I think it won't be as dangerous as others are claiming."
"We're trying to send a message that there has been no action from the city, that there has been not enough action from the police."
Counter protest organizer Mackenzie Demers

"Organizers provided a clear distribution plan for the initial $1M that was released earlier this week and confirmed funds would be used only for participants who travelled to Ottawa to participate in a peaceful protest."
"Given how this situation has evolved, no further funds will be directly distributed to the Freedom Convoy organizers -- we will work with organizers to send all remaining funds to credible and established charities verified by GoFundMe."
GoFundMe group

Police officers walk through the crowd in front of Parliament Hill, as truckers and supporters continue to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates, on Feb. 6, LARS HAGBERG/Reuters

The downtown areas of Centretown, Sandy Hill, Lowertown and the Byward Market all adjacent the Parliamentary Precinct continue to be occupied, businesses and residents virtually held hostage in the area completely surrounded and blocked off by truckers and hangers-on, discrete groups having nothing whatever to do with the truckers' protest on mandatory vaccinations and masks, and their demands that all mandates be lifted before they will agree to lift their blockade and occupation of central Ottawa.

The truckers' protest was joined by uninvited groups invested in social chaos and political upheaval, their presence as right-wing nationalists, social disrupters, racial bigots and just plain sociopaths turning a protest that intended to be peaceful, and supposedly respectful into a riot of thuggery imposed upon the city. Partying, public drinking, public urination and defecation, roistering and shouted insults, along with aggression toward ordinary people trying to get about to their jobs have created an unsustainable situation of mayhem.

Locals have been aggressively challenged, mask wearers harassed, local businesses forced to close down for fear of violence when protesters entered, refusing to be masked, telling others to unmask. The truckers themselves have been responsible for intolerable noise levels, night and day, making it impossible for people to study, to work, to sleep. Rigs are left running, the fumes from diesel polluting the air, the sound of the rigs and the constant air and bull horns have driven people to distraction.

Police were ordered to collect licence plate numbers, insurance status, social media accounts and witness information on intimidation and aggression, where ample of both have been reported. Direct confrontation with protesters and arrests have been discouraged for fear of promoting violence in the hope that the protests would begin to fizzle out, the protesters dissipate, their rigs driven off, and everything return to normal. But none of that has yet occurred in well over a week of occupation.

Police have promised a weary citizenry that investigation, enforcement and charges for hate-related crimes, harassment, assaults, intimidation and mischief would be stepped up. The protest organizers state that the hundreds of big rigs and other trucks from pick-ups to semi-trailers won't be going anywhere anytime soon, until and unless all mandates surrounding vaccines and masks are rescinded.

In the meantime, downtown hospitals have been unable to function normally, even hampered by COVID restrictions, by the presence of antagonistic and threatening members of the protest groups. The Ottawa Police Service's Deputy Chief spoke of the presence of an ongoing investigation into online threats originating in the United States; information gathered with the cooperation of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.

Multiple operations centres across Canada and internationally affirm that funding for the protest is arriving through local sources, nationally and internationally. With assistance of intelligence sharing arrest of several people carrying firearms occurred. Members of the municipal police services board and their families, along with the chief and deputy chief have received death threats in the last several days. The RCMP, OPP, and other police forces are working with city police to bring "a safe, timely and lawful end to this unlawful an unacceptably dangerous demonstration".

And finally, late Sunday afternoon Ottawa's mayor announced in a press release that he is declaring a state of emergency:

"Declaring a state of emergency reflects the serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents posed by the ongoing demonstrations."
“It highlights the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government.”