Lars Hagberg

OTTAWA (Reuters] – The Canadian capital’s protesters outnumber the police, and the mayor claimed that the demonstrators gathered there to control the situation. This was in response to vaccine mandates, which clogged the streets for a tenth consecutive day.

While the Freedom Convoy was originally created to protest a Canadian mandate for vaccines crossing border truckers, it has evolved into an international movement that is opposed to public health policies and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government.

For the last nine days, Ottawa has been paralyzed by protesters. Some are waving Confederate flags or Nazi flags while others say they want to disintegrate Canada’s government.

On a radio station, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson stated that “the situation at the moment is totally out of control” because protesters are the ones calling the shots. “They have far more people that we have officers,” Watson said.

Residents are furious at the inaction of police, and have been enraged by the constant horn blasting and occasional fireworks. However, the demonstrators were able to rely on a well-constructed supply chain, which includes portable saunas and community kitchens.

Organisers of Convoy said that their convoy would not use its horns Sunday morning for four hour “as goodwill gesture”.

In a statement, the group stated that they would not continue the blowing of the horns in respect of the Lord’s Day.

According to police, four hate crime suspects were indicted and they are investigating possible threats against public figures with help from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Police said that the well-organized blockade was partly funded by sympathizers from the United States. GoFundMe took down the Freedom Convoy’s donation platform, angering some U.S. Republican lawmakers who pledged to investigate https://www.reuters.com/world/florida-governor-investigate-gofundme-over-canada-trucker-donations-2022-02-05 the website’s move.

Senior members of the Liberal government claimed that the convey’s ease in closing down the Parliament area and the apparent impotence of the police were a national humiliation.

Senior conservatives encouraged protests and even took selfies with truckers. They did not respond to inquiries for comment. The party resigned its leader last week partly because it didn’t initially support the blockade enthusiastically.

As protests against the vaccine mandates rose from Ottawa, hundreds of thousands demonstrated across Canada on Saturday.