The latest developments on ongoing protests against COVID-19 restrictions and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government, in Ottawa and various locations across Canada, on Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022. All times eastern:
9:45 a.m.
Police are closing in on the heart of the protest site in downtown Ottawa where protesters have been encamped for the past four weeks.
Rows of officers carrying batons are assembled along Wellington Street near the Prime Minister's Office.
Police are issuing warnings to protesters to clear the area and appear to have made some arrests.
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9:15 a.m.
NDP MP Charlie Angus is calling for a public inquiry into the “national embarrassment” that led to the trucker blockades of the Canadian capital for more than three weeks.
Angus is speaking in the House of Commons as MPs resumed debate on the government’s invocation of the Emergencies Act.
Angus says an inquiry is needed to determine why Ottawa police let large trucks enter the national capital and set up a blockade that included bouncy castles, while racist members of the freedom convoy harassed local residents and forced businesses to close.
He is also calling for an inquiry into foreign funding of the so-called freedom convoy.
He called the leaders of the protest “racists” who belong in the “crowbar hotel.”
He says Canada can’t be made to look like a “failed state” in the eyes of the world.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2022.
The Canadian Press
