Mixed reception to Ottawa truckers’ protests

While some Ottawa businesses shut their doors this weekend as a convoy of truckers made its way to Parliament Hill, others rolled out the welcome mat.

The convoy included truck drivers from across the country and others broadly opposed to public health mandates.

The sheer number of vehicles converging on the city of a million people from three directions made it very hard to get around this weekend, particularly to, from and through downtown.

Ottawa police urged people to avoid unnecessary downtown travel and the city had already started closing some lanes of traffic, saying it expected disruptions would last through Sunday.

Provincial police have asked people to avoid using major highways.

The expected traffic problems led Ottawa Public Health to close a COVID-19 vaccine clinic near downtown.