WINDSOR, Ontario – Canadian leader Justin Trudeau said that all options were now “on the table” for ending trucker-led protests that have paralyzed Ottawa and closed border crossings with the United States, but stressed calling in the military was a distant final resort.
Under increasing US pressure to crack down on the protests over Covid rules that have triggered a state of emergency in Ontario province and copycat demonstrations as far away as France and New Zealand, Trudeau signaled that patience was running out.
“Everything is on the table because this unlawful activity has to end and it will end,” the prime minister told a news conference according to AFP.
The Canadian capital has been clogged with hundreds of big rigs for two weeks — as the snowballing movement has morphed into a broader protest against pandemic health rules and Trudeau’s government, and sparked solidarity rallies from France to New Zealand.
Upping the stakes, President Joe Biden reiterated his “concern” over the blockades at the US border in a phone call with Trudeau, telling him that paralyzing a key North American trade route was having “serious effects” on US firms.
Trudeau stressed to reporters however that calling in the army would be a very last resort, and that “using military forces against civilian populations in Canada or any other democracy is something to avoid having to do at all costs.”
It remained up to police to “enforce the law and protect public order,” Trudeau said, without giving details.
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