The mayor of Canada’s capital Ottawa declared a state of emergency after truckers paralysed the city centre in a protest against Covid vaccine mandates.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said it had got “completely out of control” as demonstrators outnumbered the police in the city.
Protests have brought the city centre to a halt for nine days as large trucks blocked most roads.
The Freedom Convoy began as a movement against a Canadian vaccine requirement for cross-border truckers.
Watson said in a statement: “This reflects the serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents posed by the ongoing demonstrations and highlights the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government.”
The Freedom Convoy began over a rule that all truckers must be jabbed to cross the US-Canada border but the protests have grown into broader challenges to Covid health restrictions.
Ottawa police relocated some protesters and put up fresh barricades on Sunday after facing the fury from residents over a lack of an official response.
Police said they are "collecting financial, digital, vehicle registration and other evidence that will be used in criminal prosecutions."
Organisers insisted they won’t back down until the Covid vaccine mandates are scrapped.
But Canadian Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said on Sunday the government would not back down on the issue.
“We put the question of vaccines and vaccine mandates on the ballot... in the (2021) election and we’re simply carrying out the promise that we made with the support of the vast majority of Canadians,” he said on CBC television.
Meanwhile, former US President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk have praised the truckers.
