OTTAWA – Ottawa is unable to get out of the stalemate that’s entering on its thirteenth day. The hard core of the truck drivers of the “Freedom Convoy” has no intention of leaving the capital where the state of emergency remains in force. A protest demonstration that initially did not seem to create other problems besides the inevitable inconveniences, has become a nightmare for the inhabitants and law enforcement in the first place. 

In an extraordinary press conference, the spokesman for the organizers of the demonstration pointed out that the “truck drivers would be willing to form a coalition with the opposition parties and the Governor General of Canada”.

That the situation has degenerated to worrying contours is now clear. However, associate professor of criminology at the University of Ottawa Michael Kempa said that while some of the protesters’ demands are centered on repealing the vaccination requirement, there are groups, such as Canada Unity, that have a deeper political agenda.

“There are other political demands… include the dissolution of the current government and the establishment of a kind of coalition between the Senate, the Governor General and Canada Unity themselves – Kempa said Tuesday on CTV News Channel – you can only negotiate with people who have legitimate democratic political goals … No other external party can join a coalition government, that’s not how a constitutional democracy works.”

Political demands, those put forward by the protesters, says Kempa, destined to die in the bud.

But the truck drivers of the convoy that arrived in Ottawa almost two weeks ago continue to turn a deaf ear and let the invitation to return home fall on deaf ears.

Today, Ottawa Police Service Board Chair Diane Deans, said the protesters are “well organized, well funded and appear to have a meaningful strategy.” “We will continue to work to unblock the situation, but I believe that higher-level governments will come to our aid-facing demands from Ottawa to have more resources to deal with the convoy and “suppress this insurgency” – our city has been besieged, our residents have been treated terribly. We all want this to end.”

A situation, the one that has emerged in the Canadian capital, in some ways underestimated and almost out of hand. Ottawa police estimate that about 500 trucks and personal vehicles remain in the “red zone” or city center, making parts of the capital inaccessible.

Some businesses such as the Rideau Centre Mall remain closed as well as the Canadian History Museum, the Canadian Museum of Nature and the Canadian War Museum.

On Monday, protesters on the Canadian side of the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor blocked two of the three lanes connecting Canada to the United States through Detroit but yesterday despite the presence of protesters traffic returned to flow from the entrance of Wyandotte Street West.

Meanwhile, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson sent letters to Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau saying the protest had turned into a “siege of downtown” and asked the provincial and federal governments for about 1,800 agents, investigators and civilian personnel as well as “support resources.”

On Monday, the Ottawa City Council also voted to make a request to the province for a law guaranteeing the possibility of charging protesters for the costs of demonstrations, which police estimate could reach up to $ 2.2 million a day.

Ottawa truck drivers do not give up on anything. After GoFundMe removed the group’s fundraising page that had reached over $10 million, the “Freedom Convoy” kicked off a new campaign on the GiveSendGo page: $6.3 million donated by 69,661 people has already been raised here.