From the Liveblog of
Saturday, January 29, 2022
Thousands of Canadians protest in Ottawa against COVID mandates, restrictions
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
OTTAWA, Ontario — Thousands of protesters gather in Canada’s capital to protest vaccine mandates, masks and lockdowns.
The sounds of honking horns echoes around Ottawa’s downtown core. A convoy of trucks and cars parked around Parliament Hill with some parking on the grounds of the National War Memorial before police asked them to move.
“Parking on this sacred ground that includes the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier was a sign of complete disrespect,” Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson tweets.
Some compare COVID restrictions to fascism and make use of Nazi symbols on upside-down Canadian flags. One truck carries a Confederate flag while many carry expletive-laden signs targeting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The statue of the late Terry Fox, a national hero who lost a leg to bone cancer as a youngster, then set off in 1980 on a fundraising trek across Canada, is draped with an upside-down Canadian flag with a sign that said “mandate freedom.”
David Santos says he came from Montreal because he believes the vaccine mandates are not health-related but what he calls a “control thing” by governments.
The convoy of truckers and others prompted police to prepare for the possibility of violence and warn residents to avoid downtown. A top Parliament security official advised lawmakers to lock their doors amid reports their private homes may be targeted.
Trudeau has said Canadians are not represented by this “very troubling, small but very vocal minority of Canadians who are lashing out at science, at government, at society, at mandates and public health advice.″
The prime minister’s itinerary for the day usually says he is in Ottawa if he’s at home, but today it says “National Capital Region” amid a report he’s been moved to an undisclosed location.
The Times of Israel Community.