Ottawa: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family have left their home in the country’s capital and shifted to a secret location after a large-scale protest opposing Covid-19 vaccine mandates converged on Parliament Hill.
Trudeau and his family were moved to a different location in Ottawa, CBC said on Saturday, adding that trucks with banners denouncing Trudeau and Canadian public health measures were gathering along Wellington Street in front of the Parliament Buildings.
Earlier on Saturday, media reported that thousands of truckers and hundreds of other demonstrators were gathering in Ottawa, in protest against COVID-19 measures. The truckers had started to arrive on Friday night.
Trudeau, who is currently in isolation after a Covid exposure, has defended the Covid-19 vaccination mandate, noting that 90 percent of drivers are already vaccinated.
Hundreds of trucks and thousands of people blocked the streets of central Ottawa on Saturday as part of a self-titled “Freedom Convoy” to protest vaccine mandates required to cross the US border.
Flying the Canadian flag, waving banners demanding “Freedom” and chanting slogans against PM Trudeau, the truckers were joined by thousands of other protesters angered not only by Covid-19 restrictions but by broader discontent with the government.
An enormous clamor rang out as hundreds of big trucks, their engines rumbling, sounded their air horns non-stop.
Among the people were some kids with their kids, elderly and disabled people. Some even carried signs with aggressive and obscenity-laced rhetoric directed mostly at the Canadian PM, according to reports.
