the capital ottowa. protests dubbed the freedom convoy began over a week ago, its aim to reverse the government s vaccine requirement for cross border truckers. but it s turned into a rallying point against all covid measures and prime ministerjustin trudeau s government. the city s mayorjim watson said the city was completely out of control with protesters outnumbering police. many ottawa residents object to the demonstrations. patience is definitely running out for the folks who actually live in the downtown core, who have been absolutely fed up with the behaviour of the protesters, the constant noise. just this evening, there was a raucous dance party with djs taking place just in the shadow of parliament hill. protests here might be loud but canadians are broadly supportive of the vaccine mandate. nearly 83% of canadians are fully vaccinated. the prime minister has said
between the province of manitoba and the united states has become the latest to be blocked, by anti vaccine mandate protesters. police say the crossing has been blockaded using both vehicles and farm equipment. this follows the blocking of the ambassador bridge that connects canada with michigan america s car production hub. as a result, ford and toyota have halted some production. the governor of michigan has called for the bridge to be re opened. canada s capital ottowa has been the centre of protests by truckers for several days. they re angry at the government s covid i9 restrictions. our correspondent samira hussain sent this update from ottawa. from a lot of the people i ve spoken to share over the past several days, the resolve to stay here for the long term it s really quite strong. so, from a police perspective, it does pose some sort of challenge,
canadian police say they are trying to help people leave downtown ottowa, but they suspect the protests against covid-19 mandates to continue through the week. criminal investigations are underway in connection with several structures including the national war memorial. paula newton has the story for you. reporter: this started out as a truckers protest, right. it was called the freedom convoy, and they started from all parts around canada. they wanted to gather here in the capital ottowa, to protest a vaccine mandate that was put in not just by canada, but by the biden administration. that went into effect earlier this month. but this has turned into so much more. it s really touched a nerve with a significant minority in canada who say enough is enough. they are against vaccine mandates, against mask mandates, they are against public health
this follows the blocking of the ambassador bridge that connects canada with michigan america s car production hub. as a result, ford and toyota have halted some production. the governor of michigan has called for the bridge to be re opened. canada s capital ottowa has been the centre of protests by truckers for several days. they re angry at the government s covid i9 restrictions. our correspondent samira hussain sent this update from ottawa. the resolve to stay here for the long term is quite strong, so from a police perspective, it does pose a challenge, how do you get this crowd to disperse in a peaceful kind of manner. well, making sure everyone is safe. these