OTTAWA—Police in the Canadian capital are trying to prevent protesters who have parked an estimated 500 heavy-duty trucks in the downtown core from obtaining fuel, food and other supplies in a stepped-up effort to end the 11-day demonstration against Covid-19 vaccine mandates.

Ottawa police were more aggressive in tactics over the weekend, as local politicians demanded an immediate end to the protest, organized by a group named Freedom Convoy 2022. The protest has clogged up traffic in the city and upended residents’ day-to-day lives. Protesters have vowed to stay in the capital until all governments in Canada drop mandates related to Covid-19 vaccination, as well as other economic and social restrictions.

Among the new measures is the arrest of protesters and their supporters who attempt to ferry fuel and food into the main demonstration zone.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/canada-trucker-protest-ottawa-shifts-to-aggressive-gear-in-policing-freedom-convoy-11644248545

When Chris Barber, a trucker from Swift Current, a small Saskatchewan town on the Trans-Canada Highway, started posting TikTok videos under the name “Big Red”, he had no idea it would foment a national crisis.

However, like all social movements, the one that has left the Canadian capital in chaos, and a nation searching its soul for answers, needed a spark.

Big Red’s videos detailing frustration with Justin Trudeau’s vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the US-Canada border, were seen by Tamara Lich, a key figure in the “Wexit” movement, which advocates for the independence of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, Canada’s vast “Prairie Provinces”.

Described as the person who “lit the fire”, it was Ms Lich, a former fitness instructor and singer, who started a GoFundMe campaign that would ultimately raise millions of dollars for what became the “Freedom Convoy”.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2022/02/07/truck-protests-show-justin-trudeaus-canada-split-donald-trumps/

Ottawa has more government presence than any other city in the country, including federal, provincial and municipal police and politicians galore. And yet, no one is doing anything effective about the determined demonstrators who have set up a semi-permanent camp in the capital and have no intention of leaving.

Ten days into the truckers’ Freedom Convoy occupation of Ottawa’s downtown, the questions of who should act and what they should do remains unresolved. The number of protesters swelled to as much as 5,000 over the weekend before dropping back down to a committed core of a few hundred on Monday. Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly says the police are doing their best but are overwhelmed. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson has punctuated his fussing about the demonstrators’ “bouncy castles, hot tubs and saunas,” with a declaration of emergency that the city’s lawyer admits will do nothing useful. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the guy the demonstrators came to see, has refused to talk to them and spent Monday in “private meetings.” Trudeau did test positive for COVID, but that was a week ago.

https://nationalpost.com/opinion/randall-denley-ottawa-police-the-mayor-and-justin-trudeau-to-blame-for-convoy-occupation

>>15571709

Why’s that guy wearing a Friends shirt? Seems odd attire for a trucker protest?