Despite Canada invoking emergency powers on Monday to disperse the anti-covid restrictions protest, the truckers’ protests show no sign of abatement. On the contrary, this move has seemed to strengthen their resolve to hold their ground.
“Truckers are not going anywhere,” AP quoted a person named Tyler saying. “Hold the line,” several signs and placards read. The protests have been going on for over two weeks. The resolve of the protestors suggest that they are not withdrawing till all their demands regarding removal of covid rules are accepted.
“There are no threats that will frighten us. We will hold the line,” an AP report quoted a protestor named Tamara Lich saying. “We want only one thing: to finish with this lockdown and these restrictions,” said another protestor in the same report.
Owing to his failure to remove the protestors who have brought central Ottawa to a standstill, city police chief Peter Sloly resigned on Tuesday citing lack of resources to carry out his job. Only the second time in the history of Canada that the emergency powers have been invoked by a sitting Prime Minister during peacetime. “These blockades are illegal, and if you are still participating, the time to go home is now,” PM Trudeau said.
Incidentally, the first time the emergency powers were invoked was in 1970 by PM Trudeau’s father Pierre Trudeau to combat pro-Quebec separatists. However, Justin Trudeau has clarified that the military will not be deployed this time. Last week, the police cleared the economically crucial Ambassador Bridge which is a vital trade route between Canada and the United States.
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The “Freedom Convoy” protests were triggered by implementation of covid rules vis-à-vis truckers which required them to follow strict protocols in terms of testing and isolation. The truckers allege that the rules will disrupt supply chains, cause job-losses and shoot-up inflation.
