The Ontario Liberal Party is telling Premier Doug Ford to threaten to seize the Freedom Convoy protesters’ trucks if they do not leave Ottawa.
“The residents of Ottawa are victims of a dangerous antivax mob holding their city hostage,” said Ontario Liberal leader Steven Del Duca in a press release on Monday. “It has gone far beyond what can be considered a protest and the occupation must be dealt with using strong action.”
Del Duca also said that Ontario should declare a provincial state of emergency and called on Ontario attorney general Doug Downey to request Crown attorneys follow their prosecution manuals to seek forfeiture of any assets used in serious offences.
Using “Criminal Asset Forfeiture,” police are able to seize the assets of those committing criminal offences, including both property and money.
“Leave now or you will lose your truck is the message our premier should be sending,” Del Duca said. “Doug Ford needs to come out today and announce a strong provincial response to end this occupation swiftly.”
The Ontario Liberals, said Del Duca, will continue to request Ford pass former Liberal interim leader John Fraser’s Bill 2 to create safe zones around hospitals.
Del Duca added that Bill 68 should be enacted to require organizers to pay the millions of dollars in policing costs incurred during the protest.
The Ontario Liberal leader’s remarks come after Ottawa mayor Jim Watson declared a local state of emergency on Sunday.
“Declaring a 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,” said the City of Ottawa.
Ottawa Police also announced Sunday that they would be arresting anyone who helped the truckers by bringing them “material supports,” including gasoline.
“We’ve really focused and targeted on removing the access of gasoline to the area and we’ve had several seizures and several arrests related to that,” said Ottawa Police.
The Freedom Convoy in Ottawa entered its 16th day on Monday.
