Canadian police secure capital as weeks-long anti-vaccine protest appears to end

The Canadian police have secured the capital city Ottawa with fences as the city workers cleaned up trash and snow ploughs cleared streets on Sunday (February 20).

After a couple of days of tense standoffs and use of force by Canadian police, the three-week-long demonstrations in Ottawa ended.

Ottawa's Interim Police Chief Steve Bell told reporters: "We promised earlier this week that we would clear our streets and give them back to our residents."

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"We promised that we would return our city to a state of normalcy. With every hour, we are getting closer to that goal," Bell further added.

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Protesters used hundreds of trucks and vehicles to paralyse the Canadian capital by parking and camping on the streets since January 28.

The protest even prompted Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to invoke rarely used emergency powers.

During the tense standoff, police reportedly made over 191 arrests. Police said that over 76 vehicles had been towed.

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Ottawa's Interim Police Chief also said: "City crews are clearing and ploughing the affected areas. At this time, checkpoints remain throughout the city."

"We ask residents to respect these checkpoints and the officers who are working there. We continue to advise unlawful protesters that they must leave the area immediately or they may face arrest," he added.

He further informed that those arrested so far face 389 different criminal charges, including obstructing police, disobeying a court order, assault, mischief, possessing a weapon and assaulting a police officer.

The demonstrations started as the protesters initially wanted an end to cross-border COVID-19 vaccine mandates for truck drivers. However, the blockade turned into a demonstration against Trudeau and the government.

Reports have mentioned that the last few protesters stayed late into Saturday night but it was fizzled as a deep freeze gripped the city.

On Saturday (February 19), police also used force such as batons and pepper spray whenthey attempted to remove the demonstrators.

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