Canada police threaten crackdown as protests spread to other countries

Canadian police have threatened to start arresting truckers and other demonstrators who have shut down central Ottawa and disrupted cross-border trade for two weeks in protest against the government's COVID-19 measures, as similar protests have spread to other countries to demand an end to pandemic restrictions.

Police in Canada's national capital warned truck-led protesters on Wednesday that they could face criminal charges and their trucks could be seized if they continue their "unlawful" clogging of downtown streets."

Ottawa has been gridlocked by a so-called "Freedom Convoy" consisting of truckers and other motorists for 12 days now. The government has already declared a state of emergency in the city.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has lambasted the movement as "unacceptable," warning that the action threatens the country's economic recovery.

This comes as the busiest land crossing from the United States to Canada has remained shut.

Trucks started blocking traffic at the Ambassador Bridge, located between Lake Erie and Lake Huron, late on Monday.

Several Canadian and American chambers of commerce and industry associations have demanded the bridge be cleared.

Another trade link between Coutts, Alberta and Sweet Grass, Montana has also been blocked by protesters for several days.

The protests against COVID-19 restrictions have spread to other cities across the North American country, including Toronto, Edmonton, Halifax, and Vancouver as well. They have also sparked solidarity rallies in other countries around the world—namely New Zealand's capital Wellington and Canberra in Australia.

In New Zealand, police arrested more than 50 people on Thursday during an anti-vaccine protest outside Parliament inspired by the Canadian trucker convoy.

Anti-vaccine protesters had pitched tents and parked cars on the grounds of the New Zealand Parliament building, inspired by the standoff in Canada.

On the third day of the protests, police brought in 100 additional officers to evict protesters from the grounds, ripping up tents and dispelling people.

Trudeau accused of fueling anger

Meanwhile, Trudeau has been accused of stoking division over his handling of the coronavirus pandemic, after he branded the Freedom Convoy protesters “swastika wavers.”

 “This is a story of a country that got through this pandemic by being united — and a few people shouting and waving swastikas does not define who Canadians are,” Trudeau told lawmakers during an emergency debate on Monday night.

Trudeau went on to say that the protesters are “trying to blockade our economy, our democracy, and our fellow citizens’ daily lives,” stressing that the protests have to stop.

The conservative lawmakers have accused Trudeau of fueling discontent amid the pandemic — and failing to give Canadians a timeline for when life may return to normal.

Candice Bergen, the country’s conservative interim leader “We are at a crisis point, not just outside the doors and across the country, but the country overall,” said.

SS