Canada protests ease, but effects drag on

TORONTO/OTTAWA－Hundreds of police in riot gear swept through the Canadian capital on Saturday, retaking control of the streets around the Parliament buildings, appearing to end the siege of Ottawa after three weeks of protests.

Most of the streets in the area were quiet on Saturday. The Ottawa protesters who vowed never to give up are largely gone, chased away by police in riot gear. The blare of truckers' horns had gone silent.

But the trucker protest, which grew until it closed a handful of Canada-US border posts and shut down key parts of the capital city for weeks, could echo for years in Canadian politics and perhaps south of the border.

The protest, which was first aimed at a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers but also encompassed fury over the range of COVID-19 restrictions and hatred of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, reflected the spread of disinformation in Canada and simmering populist anger.

"I think we've started something here," said Mark Suitor, 33, a protester from Hamilton, Ontario, speaking as police retook control of the streets around Parliament. Protesters had essentially occupied those streets, throwing a gauntlet down to Trudeau and energizing Canada's far right. "This is going to be a very big division in our country. I don't believe this is the end."

While most analysts doubt the protests will mark a watershed in Canadian politics, it has shaken both of Canada's two major parties.

"The protest has given both the Liberals and the Conservatives a black eye," Nelson Wiseman, a political science professor at the University of Toronto, told The Associated Press. Trudeau's Liberals look bad for allowing protesters to foment chaos in the capital, he said, and the Conservatives look bad for championing protesters.

Spreading far

The self-styled Freedom Convoy shook Canada's reputation for civility, inspired convoys in France, New Zealand and the Netherlands and interrupted trade, causing economic damage on both sides of the border.

As it did in the United States, COVID-19 quickly became a political issue in Canada. The protest may open the door to the sort of populism that former president Donald Trump used to vault himself into the White House, AP reported.

The protest has been cheered on in the US by Fox News personalities and conservatives. Millions of dollars in donations have flowed across the border to the protesters.

About 44 percent of the nearly $10 million in contributions to support the protesters originated from US donors, according to an AP analysis of leaked donor files. Prominent Republican politicians have praised the protesters.

But experts say US support of the Canadian protesters is really aimed at energizing conservative politics in the US, where midterm elections are looming.

And some in the US have pushed back.

"When I say democracy is fragile I mean it," said Bruce Heyman, a US ambassador to Canada during the Obama administration. "Stand up for our friend Canada and let your voice be heard."

Agencies via Xinhua