Sûreté du Québec police officers sit in their car blocking the street in the back of the legislature, preparing for the arrival of demonstrators against measures taken by authorities to curb the spread of COVID-19, in Quebec City on Feb. 3.Jacques Boissinot/The Canadian Press
Quebec Premier Francois Legault says he’s confident a trucker protest planned in Quebec City this weekend against COVID-19 public health orders won’t be a repeat of what’s happening in Ottawa.
Legault told reporters today authorities won’t tolerate trucks preventing locals from moving about the city and attending the winter carnival.
He says a siege wouldn’t be tolerated in the provincial capital and tow trucks are ready to remove heavy vehicles involved in the demonstration, which is inspired by an ongoing protest at Parliament Hill in Ottawa that began a week ago.
The premier says none of the sitting members of the legislature have agreed to meet protesters.
A group organizing a convoy of trucks from the Cote-Nord region said their protest would begin at 5 p.m.
Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand says the protesters who arrived Thursday were respectful, and he called on them to remain that way.
Police reinforced their presence in and around the legislature in anticipation of demonstrators, and Marchand says police are ready for any eventuality. Some trucks arrived noisily late Thursday, but Legault says from what he’s been told, things are going well.
“Yes they can pass a message, but we will not accept that they interfere in the normal life of citizens,” Legault said.
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