Arab Press

بالشعب و للشعب
Wednesday, Oct 01, 2025

"You Have To Stop": Canada Police Move In To Remove Anti-Vax Protesters

"You Have To Stop": Canada Police Move In To Remove Anti-Vax Protesters

Canada freedom convoy protests: With barricades going up and a heavy police presence forming in the area where hundreds of big rigs remained parked.

Canadian police massed in the capital Thursday, readying to clear a trucker-led protest that has choked Ottawa's streets for three weeks and provoked the government to call on rarely used emergency powers.

With barricades going up and a heavy police presence forming in the area where hundreds of big rigs remained parked, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was in Parliament nearby defending his decision to invoke the Emergencies Act for only the second time ever in peacetime.

"Illegal blockades and occupations are not peaceful protests," Trudeau told the House of Commons, adding: "They have to stop."

In response to critics, he said the act was not being used to call in the military against the protesters, and denied restricting freedom of expression.

The objective was simply to "deal with the current threat and to get the situation fully under control," he said.

Throughout the day police officers could be seen filing into the parliamentary precinct in Ottawa where the truckers appeared to dig in.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said the situation was "precarious."

The demonstrators had been given an ultimatum late Wednesday by the capital city's interim police chief to "leave the area now," or risk arrest and truck seizures.

In a statement, Chief Steve Bell said "a methodical and well-resourced plan" would be carried out over the coming days "to take back the entirety of the downtown core and every occupied space."

"Some of the techniques we are lawfully able and prepared to use are not what we are used to seeing in Ottawa," he said. "But we are prepared to use them... to restore order."

Truckers responded by blaring horns through the night and into Thursday. Waving Canadian flags on the ends of hockey sticks, they also chanted "freedom!"

One of the protest leaders, Tamara Lich posted a tearful video to say she was expecting to be arrested. "I think it's inevitable at this point... I'm okay with that," she said.

She also called on supporters to flood the capital, saying truckers already in place "are gonna stay and fight for your freedom."

"If you can come to Ottawa and stand with us, that would be fantastic," she said. "I want you to keep fighting the good fight."

 Potential for 'terrorist attacks'


Facing growing pressure to dislodge the protesters, Trudeau this week invoked emergency powers to end their occupying Ottawa and until recently blocking border crossings to the United States -- which Mendicino said has cost the economy billions of dollars.

Such a move has only been used once before, in 1970 by his father, former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, to crack down on Quebec separatists who'd kidnapped two officials and set off bombs in Montreal.

"It's time for people to go home," Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland told a news conference, warning truckers that the penalties for staying "will bite."

"Let me also be clear that we will have zero tolerance for the establishment of new blockades or occupations," she said after a convoy was stopped late Wednesday from re-occupying the Ambassador Bridge -- a key trade route between Windsor, Ontario and Detroit, Michigan.

In documents filed to the Commons, the government laid out its rational for invoking the emergency powers, saying the trucker convoy has created a critical and urgent situation that cannot be dealt with under any other Canadian laws.

It cited "a risk of serious violence and the potential for lone actor attackers to conduct terrorism attacks."

In a letter to provincial premiers, Trudeau decried the protests as "a threat to our democracy."

"It is affecting Canada's reputation internationally, hurting trade and commerce, and undermining confidence and trust in our institutions," he added.

The so-called "Freedom Convoy" started with truckers protesting against mandatory Covid vaccines to cross the US border, but its demands have since grown to include an end to all pandemic health rules and, for many, a wider anti-establishment agenda.

At its peak, the movement also included blockades of a half-dozen border crossings that have now been cleared.

Police this week arrested dozens of protesters, including four people charged with conspiracy to murder police officers at a checkpoint between Coutts, Alberta and Sweet Grass, Montana.

They also seized dozens of vehicles, as well as a cache of weapons that included rifles, handguns, body armor and ammunition.

Freeland said bank accounts of protesters and their backers have been frozen "and more accounts will be frozen."

Authorities have also moved to choke off crowdfunding and cryptocurrency transactions supporting the protesters, she said.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Arab Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Trump Backs Putin’s Land-for-Peace Proposal Amid Kyiv’s Rejection
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
United States Sells Luxury Yacht Amadea, Valued at Approximately $325 Million, in First Sale of a Seized Russian Yacht Since the Invasion of Ukraine
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
Cristiano Ronaldo and Georgina Rodríguez announce engagement
Asia-Pacific dominates world’s busiest flight routes, with South Korea’s Jeju–Seoul corridor leading global rankings
Private Welsh island with 19th-century fort listed for sale at over £3 million
Sam Altman challenges Elon Musk with plans for Neuralink rival
×