OTTAWA, ONTARIO — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday issued his most strongly worded statement to date aimed at protesters, telling truckers and their supporters in Ottawa to stand down or face “severe consequences.”
Police and all levels of government are ready to take action against the thousands of people who have gathered at the Canadian capital to protest COVID-19-related restrictions, Trudeau said. He threatened to suspend commercial trucking licenses and said the government would pursue charges that could come with jail time and hefty fines. The punishments would also prohibit protesters from ever traveling internationally again.
“Everything is on the table because this unlawful activity has to end, and it will end,” he said. “We hope these people will decide to go home. Otherwise, there will be increasingly robust police interventions.”
The prime minister said demonstrators who showed up with children should be extra cautious, adding, “We’re concerned about violence.”
ONTARIO PREMIER DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY OVER CONVOY’S BRIDGE BLOCKADE
While there have been scattered reports of violence over the past two weekends, the protests have been mostly peaceful.
Trudeau said he spoke with President Joe Biden on Friday and that the two leaders discussed the blockade at Windsor’s Ambassador Bridge, one of the busiest stretches of road between the United States and Canada. The bridge connects Windsor, Ontario, to Detroit and accounts for a quarter of all trade between the two countries.
U.S. officials have urged their Canadian counterparts to use federal powers to shut down the protests, which began in Ottawa but have spread to several other cities in Canada and across the border.
Trudeau’s comments came as a wave of new protesters showed up in Ottawa on Friday, offering the truckers stationed there food, water, diesel, and other supplies.
Izzy Drake, who lives in Toronto, told the Washington Examiner that Trudeau’s threats won’t intimidate supporters.
“He’s upset at the people, calling us racists when we have the right to protest,” Drake said. “We are making a moment here, and we’ve got to keep staying strong and call for more reinforcements down here to Ottawa so that we can all stick up together as Canadians.”
Holding up a handmade “Hey Trudeau Hide and Seek Is 4 Kids” sign, Drake pushed back on Trudeau’s concerns about the protests on Parliament Hill becoming dangerous.
“Nobody is going hungry out here on the streets — people are being fed,” he said. “It’s all love down here, and if he came, he’d see it.”
Shannon Charlabois of Kitchener, Ontario, said she also took issue with Trudeau’s criticism of the demonstrators.
“This is our heartland,” she told the Washington Examiner. “This is the first time in a long time that Quebec has joined the rest of Canada in standing in solidarity, so historically, this is going to be seen as a time of Canadian reclamation. It’s a time when Canadians are reminding ourselves what freedom means.”
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The Washington Examiner has seen a large uptick in the number of law enforcement officers patrolling downtown Ottawa. There has also been a significant increase in the number of supporters staged throughout the city.
