OTTAWA: Police and officials in the Canadian capital Ottawa say some of the trucks blocking the city centre as part of an anti-vaccine demonstration should start leaving this week, even as some protesters insist they will stay.

Dozens of trucks and other vehicles have been jamming up central Ottawa since Friday and thousands descended upon Parliament Hill to complain about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Covid-19 vaccine mandates.

Parliament resumed on Monday after a six-week winter break with Trudeau’s address.

“Demonstrations are expected to become smaller after today. However, it will take some time to clear vehicles from the downtown core,” Ottawa city council said late on Sunday.

There were few signs of activity among the protesters early on Monday, with many huddling in their cabs as temperatures hovered around -16 Celsius (3 Fahrenheit).

“This is still a very tenuous exercise, it’s fluid in nature. Negotiations are indicating that some people are leaving the city from a demonstrations standpoint, that’s a good thing,” police chief Peter Sloly told reporters late on Sunday.

Canada Unity, one of the groups involved, said it wanted to gather 1,000 people to go into a mall and shop without masks. The Rideau Centre, a large nearby mall, said it would be shut for a second day on Monday.

Police said they would start towing trucks on Monday if necessary. But by late on Sunday it said they had avoided ticketing and towing vehicles to avoid provoking confrontations with demonstrators.

The announcement spurred frustration among local residents who said they were fed up with the non-stop blaring of truck horns and demonstrators using the streets as an open-air toilet.

Published in Dawn, February 1st, 2022