Officials in Canada have called for an end to an “unlawful” truck blockade near the US border, amid mounting tensions between protesters opposing Covid health restrictions and local residents.
The standoff near the Alberta border town of Coutts has entered its fifth day, with dozens of trucks blocking access to a key highway used to enter the United States. The town is a key border crossing for Alberta’s meat exports and imports of livestock feed.
Police issued an ultimatum to protesters on Tuesday, threatening them with arrest if they remained on the road. A small group left, but many trucks remained. Others breached a police barricade to join the blockade.
The Alberta premier, Jason Kenney, condemned the “unlawful” blockades, calling on protestors to disband and return home. He told reporters people sympathetic with the protests had assaulted police and someone tried to ram RCMP members.
“Without hesitation, I condemn those actions and I call for calm amongst anybody who feels sympathetic to those engaged in this blockade,” said Kenney.
After a series of Indigenous-led blockades paralyzed rail traffic in 2020, Kenney’s government passed a law that allows for additional penalties against protesters blockading highways and other infrastructure.
In Ottawa, protesters associated with a truck convoy that arrived over the weekend have also refused to leave. Residents have become increasingly frustrated with the blaring truck horns and a number of local businesses have shuttered. The Rideau Centre, a popular mall downtown, announced it would remain closed until 6 February.
“I get it, I hear you, but we have to let the people of Ottawa live their lives,” the Ontario premier, Doug Ford, said Tuesday.
Protesters released a statement on Wednesday, saying they sympathized with residents over the disruption to daily life, but added trucks would only leave once the federal government repealed its public health restrictions, many of which are under provincial and municipal jurisdiction.
Many senior Conservative lawmakers have embraced the movement, prompting accusations of hypocrisy, after those same parliamentarians called for police to disband Indigenous-led blockades in 2020.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/feb/02/truck-convoy-blockade-canada-covid
