OTTAWA — An Ontario judge has granted a 10-day injunction to prevent protesting truckers in downtown Ottawa from honking their horns incessantly as the mayor of the national capital city asked for a near doubling of his police force.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said in a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ontario Premier Doug Ford that the city needed 1,800 more officers, in addition to his current contingent of 2,100 police and civilian members, to "quell the insurrection" the local police cannot contain.
Steve Bell, the city's deputy police chief, said a person from Ohio was arrested in connection with a threat against Ottawa police headquarters in downtown Ottawa. He said threats are coming in from across North America, and they are very taxing on already stretched resources.
Watson said the city is keeping a tally of all extraordinary costs associated with the demonstrations and will seek compensation from higher levels of government when the protest finally ends. Ottawa police now say the demonstrations in the central core are costing the city $1.8 million to $2.2 million per day for police alone.
The daily cost will only grow if Watson's plea for more officers is granted.
Ottawa's request for more policing help came as Ontario Superior Court Justice Hugh McLean granted a temporary injunction that could bring an end to the cacophony of horns heard in streets for more than a week. McLean said his order was temporary because he needs to hear more evidence, but that he heard enough to make this ruling as a protest against COVID-19 pandemic measures continues to paralyze neighbourhoods around Parliament Hill.
Paul Champ, a lawyer representing central Ottawa residents in a proposed multimillion-dollar class-action lawsuit, argued the loud and prolonged honking is causing irreparable harm.
Keith Wilson, representing three of the respondents in the case, had told McLean the ruling on the injunction would carry national importance.
McLean said he heard enough evidence that the continual blaring of horns was having an effect on residents that their right for "quiet, if we can use that term," trumped the honking truckers' right to protest.
But McLean said the injunction was temporary because a "myriad of people" may still wish to come before the court to be heard.
An injunction is a court order that a person cease certain behaviour. If they don't comply, they can be charged with contempt of court.
Watson said the loud honking that has reverberated through downtown Ottawa for the last nine days is "tantamount to psychological warfare."
Steve Bell, Ottawa deputy police chief, said the force welcomes any new tool it can leverage when it comes to enforcing the injunction.
"We'll continue to assess our ability to enforce (the injunction) at different points and at different times to make sure that we're having the most impact we can," Bell said
Amid blaring truck horns, the demonstration has included open fires, makeshift feeding stations, encampments and numerous — sometimes profane — antigovernment signs.
In his letter for more police resources, Watson wrote: "We need your help to end this siege in the heart of our nation's capital and in our residential neighbourhoods, and to regain control of our city."
Ottawa's city council voted to formally petition the federal government to assume responsibility for public safety in the parliamentary precinct to free up Ottawa officers to return to protect residential neighbourhoods.
Council also voted to ask the provincial and federal governments to provide support for businesses and employees who have lost income during the demonstration, and social support services that have helped Ottawa’s most vulnerable through the disruptions.
Ford said Sunday the province has given Ottawa everything the municipality has requested, and will continue to do so.
Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said Monday the provinces have "extensive regulatory powers" they can use to go after companies who are allowing their equipment to be used for the illegal occupation in Ottawa and near the U.S. border in southern Alberta.
He said provinces can use their highway safety laws to suspend the commercial licences and insurance of the owners of commercial trucks "blockading the streets, days on end, in a city or on a highway."
"It's clear blockades of streets and bridges is against the law and should bring serious consequences for the owners," Alghabra said during a federal update on the ongoing events that included several cabinet ministers.
Alghabra urged the Ontario government to learn lessons from how convoys of anti-COVID-19 protesters were managed successfully in other provinces over the weekend.
In Quebec City, a protest wrapped up Sunday evening with police handing out 170 tickets for noise complaints, parking and highway safety code violations.
About a dozen large trucks and farm vehicles continued Monday to sit by the main entrance to the Manitoba legislature.
Federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said an "angry crowd" should not be allowed to dictate policies to fight COVID-19, and that protesters have "crossed the line of acceptable conduct" toward fellow Canadians in their bid to pressure the government.
"We believe in peace, order and good government in Canada," he said. "Canadians deserve to feel safe in their communities and no one is above the law."
Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said it is not the role of any government to direct law-enforcement operations but he announced that a trilateral table of federal, provincial and municipal partners would help oversee the response.
On Monday evening, Trudeau appeared in the House of Commons to take part in an emergency debate on the protest in Ottawa. It was his first time there since before the holiday break. Last week, he was isolating after having tested positive in COVID-19. He has also been staying at a location in the National Capital Region that was not being publicized for security reasons.
"This pandemic has sucked for all Canadians," said Trudeau.
"Everyone is tired of COVID, but these protests are not the way to get through it."
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said in the House the government had approved a request by the RCMP for additional resources to police the protests. He said "hundreds of charges would continue to be laid" against the truckers protesting outside Parliament. He said Ottawa had been blockaded by "an angry, intolerant and often violent" group of protesters.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh, who had called for the emergency debate, said Canadians are demanding answers about who is funding the protests. He also said the waving of Nazi flags was offensive, particularly to racialized Canadians.
Conservative MP Raquel Dancho, the public safety critic, accused the government of using vaccination as a "wedge issue" and a "bludgeon." She said Canadians were divided and it was "time to build a bridge." She urged protesters to "stay peaceful" but accused the government of stoking the fires of the protests with divisive rhetoric and "name calling."
New federal Conservative interim leader Candice Bergen also Canada had never been so divided.
Earlier Monday, Bergen wrote to request a meeting with Trudeau and other party leaders to discuss the ongoing protest in Ottawa.
She charged the prime minister with being “largely absent” since dismissing protesters as a “fringe” with “unacceptable views” last week.
Bergen wrote she hopes the leaders can talk about how to “take the temperature down” and find solutions that would allow the people of Ottawa to get back to normal life.
Singh has accused Trudeau of a lack of leadership, saying the prime minister "needs to be present" to deal with the protest, but had "not been visible" so far.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 7, 2022.
— With files from Mia Rabson and Marie Woolf
Mike Blanchfield and Laura Osman, The Canadian Press
