Five weeks after police pushed a “Freedom Convoy” protest out of Ottawa, some of its participants returned over the weekend. Hundreds began the convoy in a community on Quebec’s south shore and picked up protester along the way to the capital, where they were escorted through the downtown core before making their way to a town in Eastern Ontario. Police reported no incidents but organizers say they’ll be back. [node:read-more:link]
Key organizers of the “freedom convoy” which paralyzed downtown Ottawa for three weeks last month, are facing additional criminal charges. The occupation, which began as a protest against mandatory coronavirus vaccinations, are said to have cost the capital an estimated $36.6 million, most of it for police services. [node:read-more:link]
The Council of State, France’s supreme court of administrative justice, has banned “without delay” police use of drones for surveillance of public protests in Paris. The council, which also is a legal advisor to the national government, issued the directive as parliament debates a contentious security bill which would permit the surveillance in support of law and order. [node:read-more:link]
Russia today announced yet another ceasefire in its invasion of Ukraine and opened a few humanitarian corridors as a prelude to a third round of talks. However, previous measures have fallen apart as bombardments resumed shortly thereafter; hundreds of thousands of fleeing civilians were forced to shelter March 6 as Russians shelled several cities. Some of the new corridors would funnel Ukrainians toward Russia or Belarus, a prospect rejected by Ukraine. [node:read-more:link]
Now that order has been restored in Ottawa and Canada's border crossings, the Prime Minister says the government can revoke the Emergencies Act. The House of Commons had just approved the strong measures on Monday night. The crisis had raged at full bore and full volume for 20 days previous to the announcement of emergency powers which immediately froze financial support and made tow trucks into essential services. [node:read-more:link]
As hundreds of protesters in the so-called “freedom convoy” of coronavirus vaccination opponents continued late Feb. 17, police made several arrests, including two key protest organizers. Chris Barber and Tamara Lich, who called others to “hold the line” as she was being taken into custody, face charges of mischief and counselling to commit mischief. [node:read-more:link]
An Alberta judge has refused to release a controversial preacher accused of inciting violence during the recent border blockade at the province’s border with Montana. Art Pawlowski of Calgary, charged with public mischief and interrupting essential operations, had encouraged protesters to withdraw, saying that “for freedom to be preserved, people must be willing to sacrifice their lives.” [node:read-more:link]
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called on the organizers of the “Freedom Convoy” to wind up their protest which has paralyzed downtown Ottawa for more than a week. They were “trying to blockade our economy, our democracy and our fellow citizens' daily lives,” he said during an emergency parliamentary debate Feb. 7. “The people of Ottawa don't deserve to be harassed in their own neighbourhoods.” [node:read-more:link]
Christians tread where GoFundMe won’t After GoFundMe announced that it had frozen at least $8 million in donations to the “Freedom Convoy” that has paralyzed downtown Ottawa for 11 days, a U.S.-based Christian crowdfunding organization has raised more than $3.5 million as of today. The development is raising concerns about possible foreign interference, among other things. [node:read-more:link]
Candice Bergen, the Manitoba MP who is interim leader of the Conservative Party in the House of Commons, advised senior caucus members last week not to tell members of the anti-vaccination convoy to leave Ottawa. She said in an email that because the mood of the protest “may shift soon,” the Official Opposition should “make the protests the prime minister’s problem” in seeking a peaceful solution to the blockade. [node:read-more:link]
Nunavut Senator Dennis Patterson has quit the Conservative caucus because it had not condemned the trucker anti-vaccination convoy that had paralyzed the capital for a week. He said on the weekend that he is “very disappointed that I have not seen in our current leadership a condemnation of the continued lawless occupation, hostage-taking of the downtown core in the heart of our parliamentary democracy.” [node:read-more:link]
The Ottawa Police Service said today that it will increase its presence and further restrict access to the city's downtown core as it prepares for another weekend of noisy protests by anti-vaccination activists. The OPS “surge and contain strategy” will involve traffic control barricades and more aggressive law enforcement, including downtown neighbourhood patrols to address residents’ concerns about protesters’ abusive behaviour. [node:read-more:link]
The Quebec legislature is essentially surrounded by provincial police in anticipation of the arrival of a weekend “freedom convoy” opposed to mandatory coronavirus vaccinations. A convoy organizer said Feb. 3 that the weekend protest is not designed “to jam up the city” but simply to be “heard.” Premier François Legault said protests are acceptable but that the capital’s residents must not be prevented from “functioning normally.” [node:read-more:link]
City police, the RCMP and intelligence groups are gearing up to handle the arrival in Ottawa this weekend of a convoy of truckers who are protesting mandatory coronavirus vaccination. While convoy organizers are cooperating, the concern is that escalating online rhetoric could incite violence by fringe elements. [node:read-more:link]
The Quebec government has imposed its second curfew since the coronavirus pandemic began, banning people from being outside their homes overnight and from holding indoor gatherings. Other limits include the closing of restaurant dining areas, limits on religious gatherings and the suspension of indoor sports. An immediate publish pushback resulted in Montreal police issuing tickets and arresting one woman for assault. [node:read-more:link]
