'You Must Leave': Canada Police Issue Stern Warning to Protesting Truckers

Despite the warnings, hundreds of honking trucks refused to leave the streets leading to the parliament.

Protesting truckers have vowed not to leave the streets. 

(Photo Courtesy: npr.org)

The Canadian police warned protesting truckers on Wednesday, 16 February, that those blocking the streets of the capital city, Ottawa, and those breaking COVID regulations, would either have to leave or face arrest, fines and seizure of their trucks.

Ottawa police distributed a notice to truckers protesting outside the Canadian parliament.

It read, "You must leave the area now."

Anyone blocking streets or assisting others in doing so will be arrested and face charges, the police statement added.

Additionally, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters on 16 February that the police, with the aid of other law enforcement agencies, should now "be able to begin their actions."

"It's time for this to end," he said, and that the police will "decide when and how."

Despite the warnings, journalists working for Agence France-Presse saw hundreds of honking trucks that refused to leave the streets leading up to Parliament Hill.

"We're still a lot of trucks holding the line," one trucker told AFP.

When asked what he would do if he was arrested and then sent home, he replied: "I'll keep coming back."

A court, on 16 February, extended its ruling against the noise caused by honking after residents of the area complained.

The order, however, didn't seem to deter the truckers.

Truckers have been particularly angered by Prime Minister Trudeau's decision earlier this week to impose a state of emergency.

Jan Grouin, one of the many protesting truckers appalled by the decision, said Trudeau was "a little overreacting maybe to think that we are terrorists."

The prime minister has also threatened to freeze the personal bank accounts of anyone linked to the protests.

The emergency powers mean that the federal government doesn't need a court order to do the same.

The Trudeau administration's decision to impose a mandate requiring truckers to provide proof of vaccination before entering Canada from the United States catalysed the current crisis.

What began as the 'Freedom Convoy', a rally taken out by truckers against the new mandate, quickly blew up into a full-fledged protest against the Canadian government and its overall COVID response.

(With inputs from AFP)