There's fencing on Parliament Hill, an exclusion zone around several blocks downtown and hundreds of extra police officers on call as Ottawa braces for the arrival of "Rolling Thunder" motorcyclists on Friday, April 29, 2022, afternoon.
The Ottawa police services board has approved the appointment of up to 831 RCMP officers to help municipal police, who are promising a heavy presence in the capital and zero tolerance for hate this weekend.
Silence and calm reigned on the streets of Ottawa for the first time in more than three weeks on Sunday, February 20, 2022, as police continued their efforts to put a final end to anti−government demonstrations that immobilized the national capital.
Police officers donned helmets, wielded batons and deployed pepper spray in downtown Ottawa on Saturday, February 19, 2022, as they tried to clear out protesters putting up what the city's interim police chief described as a "barrage of resistance" to ending their illegal occupation of the national capital.
Steve Bell, Ottawa's interim police chief says officers will clear the streets of people who oppose the government and COVID-19 restrictions in the next few days, warning they are ready to use methods people are not used to seeing in the capital.
Ottawa police say 23 people have been arrested in the ongoing anti-vaccine mandate protest in the city's downtown, and there are 85 ongoing criminal investigations related to the nearly two-week-long demonstration.