A multi-unit vehicle control zone is in place around Parliament Hill, designed to prevent a second occupation of downtown Ottawa by protesters linked to the Freedom Convoy movement last winter.
Ottawa’s bylaws say 120 parking tickets and 28 vehicles were issued between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Wednesday.
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 officers 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 on Wednesday 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.
A look at the motor vehicle control area in downtown Ottawa for Canada Day. (City of Ottawa / Liberation)
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.
Mayor Jim Watson says the city has learned from the occupation.
“This time we were ahead of the situation, last time not. Last time, things obviously got out of hand, “Watson told CTV Morning Live on Wednesday. “If 18-wheeled cars start appearing on residential streets, they will be put on tickets and withdrawn. You are not allowed to drive an 18-wheeled car on a residential street that takes up four or five parking spaces. There will be zero tolerance. “
Ottawa’s statutes say the implementation of non-stop zones is already under way.
⚠️Please note that all vehicles that remain parked in the special event areas without stopping in the vehicle control area in the center will be with tickets and towed.
Implementation continues.
Read and follow all signs. #OttCity #OttNews pic.twitter.com/eYIyd8cGYU
– Statute of Ottawa (@OttawaBylaw) June 29, 2022
Ottawa police have tow trucks in downtown, presumably to quickly remove all cars that do not comply with the no-parking rules that are now in effect on many streets in downtown Ottawa #cdnpoli #ottnews pic.twitter .com / rmlA2XewMo
– Mackenzie Gray (@Gray_Mackenzie) June 29, 2022
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