Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson declares state of emergency during truckers protest
Ottawa’s mayor has declared a state of emergency to handle the truckers who are protesting national coronavirus regulations – a 10-day occupation that has shut down the center of the Canadian capital city.
“(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,” Mayor Jim Watson said in a statement, Reuters reported.
The so-called “Freedom Convoy” began as a protest against a vaccine requirement for cross-border truckers, but morphed into a mass demonstration against the Canadian government over other coronavirus regulations.

The protesters have congregated in downtown Ottawa near Parliament Hill, and their demands have grown to include ending all of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s national mandates.
Speaking to Canadian radio station CFRA, Watson said the capital is “out of control” and that the truckers were behaving “insensitively” by “blaring horns and sirens, [setting off] fireworks and turning it into a party.”
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