WARNING: This story contains content that may be offensive
Crowds are thinning on Parliament Hill, but a lingering cohort of protesters has vowed to stay the course as the trucker protest neared the end of a fourth day in Ottawa, despite condemnations, calls to go home, and arrests.
Although some members of the protest convoy arrived in the city on Friday, snarling downtown traffic, the main rally took place on the Hill Saturday and some protesters have remained in the area since.
that two people were arrested and charged in connection with incidents that took place at the demonstration over the weekend.
A 29-year-old Ottawa man was charged for allegedly causing mischief to property on Saturday. Police didn't specify what the mischief entailed, but said they waited to make an arrest at the time in order to avoid "a larger confrontation."
On Sunday, a 37-year-old Ottawa man was charged with carrying a weapon to a public meeting. No further details were given on what the weapon was.
Ottawa police said in a media release that they have 13 investigations underway and that they are making progress on the "desecration of the War Monument."
Police also said that they are seeing a reduction in the demonstration. In the media release, they state "50 people on Parliament Hill and another 200 people are gathered nearby."
Protesters have been bringing in fuel and supplies to those who are hunkered down in their vehicles Tuesday, while others have been seen throughout the day.
Buttons and badges that were Tuesday included those with 鈥渕ask exemption鈥 messaging, offensive imagery and other anti-mandate language.
Some child care centres remain closed in the downtown area, and at least one vaccine clinic has shut its doors due to the protest Tuesday,
Some residents in Ottawa have reported being challenged on wearing masks by protesters and in their neighbourhoods. Many businesses in the downtown core will remain closed in light of the protest.
One protester seated near the Terry Fox statue -- which he said other protesters placed flowers on in a gesture after the outcry on the weekend -- told 麻豆影视 Tuesday in a livestream that he was there because of his beliefs in body autonomy and self-sovereignty, and that he believes the country has gone 鈥渁 little too far with the liberalism.鈥
Decrying what he said was unfair, biased coverage from mainstream media of the 鈥済ood people鈥 who were part of the convoy, the protester, who did not give his name, said 鈥減eople just want the truth.鈥
Speaking to reporters prior to a cabinet meeting Tuesday, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said the government will 鈥渃ontinue to follow public health advice and鈥hen doctors, experts tell us that things are getting better, we will adjust those measures,鈥 in response to a question about when vaccine mandates for truckers might end.
Minister of Innovation, Science and Industry Fran莽ois-Philippe Champagne reiterated that it is time for the protesters to return home.
鈥淭hey鈥檝e been heard, now it鈥檚 time to give back downtown Ottawa to downtown residents鈥ow let the people of Ottawa go back to a normal life,鈥 Champagne told reporters.
In a statement issued Tuesday, the President of the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada (PMTC) Mike Millian also declared it was time for protesters to go home.
Recapping some of the incidents over the weekend, Millian said the PMTC was 鈥渧ery disturbed鈥 by some of the images and reports out of Ottawa of monuments 鈥渄esecrated鈥 and symbols of hate being displayed.
鈥淭he majority of the trucking industry, and the vast majority of drivers, were not involved in this convoy in any way and continued to work to ensure our essential supplies were provided for,鈥 the statement read, before thanking the drivers who were 鈥減rotesting politely鈥 and those who donated to the shelter Shepherds of Good Hope.
鈥淭he protesters that remain in Ottawa today however, it is time to pack up and leave. Your message has been heard. The people of Ottawa should be allowed to get back to their lives, which have been disrupted for three days now,鈥 the statement said. 鈥淧eople need to get to work, take their kids to school, and open their businesses, the very thing some of the protesters claim to be fighting for.鈥
Addressing the blockade of land borders between Canada and the U.S., Millian said that while the PMTC does not support vaccine mandates for truck drivers, they 鈥渄o not support the actions that have been taken in recent days to try and change them.鈥
鈥淲hen you allow yourself to become part of something that gets out of hand, there is a price that comes with it.鈥
Meanwhile, Ottawa Police to protesters on Saturday made in a video posted on social media.
鈥淧olice are not providing food, fuel or any other supplies to demonstrators,鈥 the police said in a tweet. 鈥淭here is a video circulating that shows officers bringing in boxes of food and supplies to other officers working at the demonstration.鈥
Hotels in the area are bracing for the protesters to potentially reconvene next weekend, after hotel staff had to 鈥渃all the police all the time鈥 about violence and vandalism when dealing with the first wave of protesters, according to Steve Ball, President of the Ottawa-Gatineau Hotel Association.
鈥淥n Friday during check-in and throughout there were some real issues around the masking policies, and of course the protesters are here to protest mandates and the hotels are here to serve the public and follow guidelines, so there was quite a bit of conflict on Friday,鈥 Ball said on 麻豆影视 Channel Tuesday, adding that things settled down as the weekend went on.
When asked about hotels no longer taking reservations, Ball said the issue is 鈥渕ixing cohorts of guests鈥 -- tourists who are following guidelines and protesters who are 鈥渢here to make a point.鈥
鈥淭here鈥檚 conflicts in the lobbies, there鈥檚 conflicts in the elevators, so we鈥檙e just trying to manage that as best we can,鈥 he said.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said on CTV鈥檚 Your Morning Tuesday that the trucker protest is 鈥渟omething that we鈥檝e never seen before.鈥
鈥淧olice are doing what they can to make the situation the best they can, a lot of people are frustrated and just want the trucks towed away,鈥 he said. 鈥淭he bottom line is the last thing you want to do is, when you see a fire, is pour gasoline.鈥
Watson said that residents are nevertheless fed up and that he is calling on the trucker convoy organizers to tell protesters to go home.
鈥淭he reality is, they鈥檝e had their attention, they鈥檝e had their 15 minutes in the spotlight,鈥 he said. 鈥淟et us have our city back.鈥
When asked about criticism aimed at the Ottawa police force for their gentle, more 鈥渉ands off鈥 approach to this protest compared to others that have taken place, Watson said the police were making sure there isn鈥檛 a 鈥渇lare up鈥 of violence.
鈥淭hey have to de-escalate the situation before moving in,鈥 he said, adding that the police and the city have a 鈥渘umber of plans鈥 for the protest.
But some Ottawa organizations are calling for immediate action to end the protest, citing intimidating and harassment.
The Ottawa Coalition to End Violence Against Women (OCTEVAW) , demanding city leadership take 鈥渃oncrete action to end violence downtown.鈥
鈥淢ake no mistake, the hate mob occupying the downtown core is violent. As a coalition representing community-based organizations dedicated to ending violence against women and gender-based violence, the hateful messaging, intimidation, and racism currently taking place in our streets is what our member agencies address daily,鈥 the statement reads. 鈥淲e have heard of accounts of young women being followed, almost run over, and threatened with rape. It comes as no surprise that those embracing racist, homophobic, and transphobic values also openly demonstrate their hatred towards women.鈥
OCTEVAW said in its statement it stands in solidarity with 鈥渙rganizers in our community in denouncing the hate fuelled mob, and the City鈥檚 lack of intervention.鈥
In a news conference on Monday afternoon, Ottawa Police Service Chief Peter Sloly said that the demonstration resulted in no reported injuries, deaths or riots.
Sloly said that 鈥渢ens of thousands鈥 of protesters and 鈥渢housands of heavy trucks鈥 had gathered over the past few days, but that the crowd had significantly 鈥渟caled down鈥 from the weekend.
鈥淚'll repeat again the scale of these operations are significant. The number of people is not out of the ordinary for large demonstrations in big cities, particularly the nation's capital, but the extra presence of the large number of vehicles and heavy vehicles, the level of funding and overall support and organization in and around the core demonstrations, is significant and unprecedented,鈥 he said.
In a question-and-answer session after the news conference, Sloly clarified his estimate on the numbers of protesters, with the caveat that all information was fluid and constantly changing.
鈥淚 have heard numbers as high as 18,000 and as low as 5,000,鈥 Sloly said. 鈥淪aturday was definitely the largest amount of trucks and demonstrators over a 24-hour period.鈥
Sloly said that police in Ottawa are in negotiations with the organizers to bring the protest to an end and that 鈥渁ll options are on the table鈥 to end the demonstration, including using force.
The Ottawa Paramedic Service confirmed to 麻豆影视 Monday that a rock was thrown at one of their trucks Sunday and that a racial slur was yelled targeting the paramedic in that vehicle.
There were at least two other incidents of projectiles thrown at paramedic vehicles, and the service had issues responding to calls in the downtown core where protesters were either slowing them down or intimidating paramedics, mostly on Saturday, a spokesperson said.
The spokesperson said the police will now be responding 鈥渁t all times鈥 with the paramedics for safety.
Monday brought fiery remarks from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who said at a press conference he would not meet with any of the truckers and said, in the past few days, 鈥淐anadians were shocked and frankly, disgusted by the behaviour displayed by some people protesting in our nation's capital.鈥
鈥淚 want to be very clear, we are not intimidated by those who hurl insults and abuse at small business workers, and steal food from the homeless,鈥 Trudeau said. 鈥淲e won't give in to those who fly racist flags. We won't cave to those who engage in vandalism or dishonour the memory of our veterans.鈥
An earlier version of this story reported that some schools were closed, it has been corrected to show that some child care centres are closed
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