A multi-unit vehicle control zone came into force today around Parliament Hill, designed to prevent a second occupation of downtown Ottawa by protesters linked to the Freedom Convoy movement last winter.
The area, which extends from Colonel By Drive / Sussex Drive to the east, Wellington Street to the north, Booth Street to the west and Laurier Avenue to the south, will not be closed to vehicles, but will be limited.
“Motor vehicles participating in any form of demonstration, event, protest or rally will not be allowed,” the city said. “Barricades, heavy equipment or police and vehicles will be at various access points around the control area to filter out legal traffic on these streets.
The control zone will be in force from 8 am today to 6 am on Monday. There will also be closed roads on Canada Day.
The vehicle control zone is one of the measures the Ottawa Police Department is taking to prevent a repeat of last February, when protesters parked heavy trucks downtown and set up a makeshift village in protest of the federal liberal government and public health. COVID-19. protection. Eventually, the police removed them, authorized by the first reference to the federal emergency law.
Ottawa’s interim police chief, Steve Bell, has assured residents that last winter’s occupation will not be repeated.
“There will be no occupiers because all our planning is about ensuring that people do not occupy our streets, that people do not take over areas of Ottawa,” Bell told the Ottawa Police Department on Monday. “We have set very deliberate plans and we have provided resources for these plans so that occupation does not happen again.”
Speaking to CTV News at noon on Tuesday, Bell said police had not forgotten what happened five months ago.
“The trauma our community suffered in February is at the heart of all our planning,” he said. “Canada Day is about celebrating our country … We want to encourage people to come down and we want to tell them that you can go down to a large area that will have a festive environment.”
Bell says all legal protests will be allowed, but illegal activity will not be tolerated. Ottawa law also says there is zero tolerance for placing tables, tents or other materials on city roads and sidewalks.
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