The nation’s capital is tempted to Canada Day Two years of virtual gatherings set to draw large crowds – just months after an unprecedented illegal demonstration police say is still causing a “prolonged shock” among Ottawa residents.
In normal years, Canada Day celebrations draw thousands of people to the lawns and streets around Parliament Hill for concerts, fireworks, and parties. COVID-19 forced celebrations to go virtual in 2020 and 2021.
This year, the party is back live and in person after two years of lockdown, but it will not take place against the familiar backdrop of the parliamentary complex.
Instead, official celebrations will be based at Lebreton Flats, the festival grounds about a 20-minute walk west of Parliament Hill, as the parliamentary constituency is downstream.
It’s part of a three-week effort to prevent a truck recidivism convoy Demonstrations by anti-government and anti-vaccine individuals that the police as well as federal and municipal officials have called a “business”.
Interim Ottawa Police Service Chief Steve Bell said, “Given what we know and what we are facing, we have taken an increased and expanded posture starting well before July 1 and ensured To do that we defend our city appropriately.” ,
“This will be no small task but together we will do everything within our power to keep our city and residents safe.”
Beginning Thursday at 8 a.m. Eastern, the Ottawa Police is enforcing a motor vehicle control zone in the corps.
The area will remain in effect until July 4 and police and sub-officers will ban on-street parking and limit access to blocks around Parliament Hill.
The area would run along Wellington Street in the north to Laurier Avenue in the south and along the Rideau Canal in the east to Booth Street in the west bank.
Several major roads and bridges extending out from the zone into the core are also being considered as part of that zone, although many of the heavily residential areas have been hit hard in demonstrations this spring.
To enforce the zone, police have set up barricades, heavy equipment and police vehicle check points to “filter legitimate traffic on those roads”.
That lawful traffic would include “residential and commercial traffic, as well as pedestrians, cyclists and public transport.” For the City of Ottawa Bye-law Services.
Vehicles participating in any demonstration will not be allowed inside, and Ottawa sub-officers have already issued several tweets showing employees removing towing vehicles and structures being installed in the zone .
Bell noted that residents should expect to see “a significant police posture and presence throughout the city” and that public order units, traffic teams, tow trucks and rapid response teams are present.
“This is necessary for public safety reasons to support our ability to rapidly control the corps or support the city’s vehicle control area,” he said.
“We stand ready to take decisive and lawful action to deal with threats, attempts at capture, and other illegal behavior we observe.”
At the same time, Bell said officers are prepared to “remove any person entering public and private property or installing or attempting to install structures on behalf of the property owner.”
There remains significant community frustration and anger over how Ottawa police handled the so-called “Freedom Convoy,” which earlier this year blocked the downtown core for weeks.
Much of the anger stemmed from police enforcing large rigs and other heavy vehicles camping on city streets, setting up infrastructure to support prolonged attendance, and repeated violations of traffic rules, noise bylaws, and intimidation. The focus is on scarcity. or disturbing behavior.
In community forums like Reddit’s r/Ottawa, several users have described plans to leave the core for the upcoming weekend to avoid a possible duplication of convoys.
The police defended the lack of action in the corps during the initial convoy blockade, suggesting that the crowd was hostile and that the police were not equipped to remove vehicles or people without danger of harm to themselves or residents.
Successfully clearing the convoy saw a huge influx of law enforcement from jurisdictions across the country, and Bell said the force has already called in support later this week in anticipation of the need for more assistance.
“Many police services including OPP and RCMP are coming forward with support,” he said.
“While we are receiving support, we have had to take unprecedented measures to deploy every available officer and police member to staff this scheme.”
He says police are prepared for “multiple scenarios”.
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