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Canada's capital on Saturday was bracing for a surge of demonstrators to join a week-long protest against public health measures and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that has blockaded much of the downtown core, unnerved residents and been described by officials as an "occupation" and a "siege."
Local police said Friday that they expected as many as 400 additional trucks and up to 2,000 people to join the self-described "Freedom Convoy" over the weekend. They said that some 1,000 people could also be planning a counterprotest.
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Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly, under fire for what critics have called a lenient response to the blockades, said police would be "hardening" the perimeter around the protests and deploying 150 more officers to "deliver a clear message" that "the lawlessness must end." Roads, highway ramps and bridges could also be closed.
"The demonstrators . . . remain highly organized, well-funded, extremely committed to resisting all attempts to end the demonstrations safely," Sloly, who said he had received death threats, told reporters on Friday. "This remains, as it was from the beginning, an increasingly volatile and increasingly dangerous demonstration."
The protests were initially started in response to U.S. and Canadian rules requiring cross-border truckers to be fully vaccinated to enter their respective countries. But they have ballooned into a movement against all public health measures, which are mostly imposed by the provinces, and Trudeau, who was reelected in September.
In a "memorandum of understanding," Canada Unity, one of the main groups behind the convoy, calls for the governor general, Queen Elizabeth II's representative in Canada, and the Senate to override the public health measures or to topple the government - far outside their constitutional powers.
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