Police officials in the capital city of Canada, Ottawa, have reportedly been in talks about utilizing the aid of the military in order to deal with the spreading impact of the nation’s Freedom Convoy of truckers and protesters who have been demonstrating in the downtown area for almost a week straight.
This report comes up as officials are heavily expecting a large influx of protesters to arrive this Saturday, and, in addition to this, more demonstrators have taken steps to block various locations all along the border between the U.S. and Canada.
“This is a national issue, not an Ottawa issue,” claimed Chief Peter Sloly in a statement given on Wednesday, as reported by CBC.
“I am increasingly concerned there is no policing solution to this,” he claimed.
Sloly then went on to note that the current protest was already well beyond the ability of his police forces to control, which led him to consider actions and assistance beyond his apartment for a possible response.
“I don’t have a singular mandate in this city, this province or this country, to negotiate the end to any demonstration,” stated Sloly. “There always needs to be an element outside of the police for any truly successful end to any demonstration, particularly one of this size.”
As indicated in the report, nothing has been decided and there is no plan to call for the assistance of the Canadian Armed Forces as of yet. This freedom movement, which stands in opposition to vaccine mandates, has been entirely peaceful, but the thousands of protesters and trucks have congested the downtown area of Ottawa, which includes a few schools and many businesses, to a stand-still. As of writing, a lengthy list of services in Ottawa still remain closed in the wake of the start of the protest.
“As a protest with vehicles taking up blocks of downtown Ottawa continues, the area’s major mall closes for the rest of the week and museums are staying shut despite being allowed to reopen under updated pandemic rules,” stated CBC in another report.
“City officials continue to advise people to avoid non-essential travel, especially downtown. Museums, the Rideau Centre and some city services are also closed or reducing operations for the time being,” the report stated.
A group of the organizers of the Freedom Convoy put forth a release on Wednesday that stated their empathy towards the residents of the city.
“Our message to the citizens of Ottawa is one of empathy. We understand your frustration and genuinely wish there was another way for us to get our message across, but the responsibility for your inconvenience lies squarely on the shoulders of politicians who have preferred to vilify and call us names rather than engage in respectful, serious dialogue,” stated Chris Barber, the convoy leader. “The fastest way to get us out of the nation’s capital, is to call your elected representatives and end all C-19 mandates.”