On Day 20 of the Truckers for Freedom Convoy, Premier Doug Ford declared a state of emergency in Ontario, a Superior Court judge ordered all trucks blocking the Ambassador Bridge to clear out by 7pm and demonstrators in Ottawa got ready for another weekend of protests.
In a press conference today with senior members of his cabinet, Doug Ford declared a state of emergency in Ontario. He characterized the ongoing protest in Ottawa as an “illegal siege” of the city.
Ford announced that penalties for those that block “international border crossings, 400 series highways, airports, ports, bridges and railways” would be “severe,” with offenders facing fines of up to $100,000 or up to 1 year imprisonment.
Speaking about the ongoing situation in the nation’s capital, the Premier said, “we’re now two weeks into the siege of the City of Ottawa. I call it a siege because that’s what it is – it’s an illegal occupation. This is no longer a protest. With a protest, you peacefully make your point and go back home.”
Ford went on to urge protesters in Ottawa and at the Ambassador Bridge to “please go home.”
Speaking at a press conference later in the day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau endorsed Doug Ford’s move, characterizing it as a “responsible” decision.
“I want to make something very clear,” Trudeau said. “If you joined the protests because you’re tired of COVID, you need to understand that you’re breaking laws.”
“The consequences are becoming more and more severe. You don’t want to end up losing your licence or end up with a criminal record.”
“Everything is on the table,” Trudeau continued. “This unlawful activity has to end, and it will end.”
“Of course, I can’t say too much more now as to exactly when or how this ends because unfortunately we are concerned about violence.”
Watch more of Trudeau’s remarks below.
After Ford announced the State of Emergency, an Ontario Superior Court judge granted an injunction banning the ongoing blockade at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor. The decision declared the blockade “illegal” and gave protestors until 7pm to move their trucks.
In his decision, Ontario Superior Court Chief Justice Geoffrey Morawetz said, “(t)he activities that are the subject of this injunction, the freedom that those want directly results in the denial of freedom to others in society, the direct denial of their freedom to work, the direct denial of their freedom to cross and to move goods and services across the bridge.”
In response to the judge’s ruling, Global News reported that demonstrators held a vote to decide whether or not to break the injunction and remain at the bridge.
To nobody’s surprise – and as similarly reported at the Coutts border blockade – the truckers voted to hold the line.
On the American side of the cross-border bridge, a White House official confirmed yesterday that US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas were urging the Canadian government “to use federal powers to resolve this situation at our joint border.”
Furthermore, a US Department of Homeland Security “internal-use only” memo warned officials that a “cost-to-coast” trucker convoy could start on Sunday in California, potentially disrupting several key events in the US cultural calendar including the Super Bowl and President Biden’s State of the Union Address.
The Biden administration confirmed that they were “surging additional staff” to the Super Bowl just in case a trucker convoy disrupts the event.
In Ottawa, the trucks on Wellington Street remained despite the rhetoric still being leveled at them by provincial and federal leaders.
Footage posted to social media today showed the crowd on Wellington setting up a giant stage and video screen.
Earlier in the day, a group of veterans were seen hugging and greeting one another outside the Parliament Buildings.
As more protestors get set to assemble once again in Ottawa this weekend, True North’s Andrew Lawton will be on the ground to document the events.
The GiveSendGo set up by the Truckers for Freedom Convoy organizers had reached USD $8,997,133 by the time this article was published.
