First, I don’t live in the core, so it took a long time to get to ground zero. Road blocks everywhere. One police check even turning back a guy with Parliamentary Press Gallery credentials. So you just go to the next perimeter point and hope for a friendlier cop.
Several large paddy wagons are positioned on secondary streets. Police on every corner.
This guy with the #NB flag, who says he is actually from Quebec, remains in place just east of Parliament adjacent from the prime minister’s office.
So is Peter and James Doull, the middle truck, directly in front of Parliament Hill. For now.
Peter Doull says he will head home later today. He contends a “family emergency” is why he must go, not the police who are beginning to arrest and tow.
But Doull notes that the only car in front of him got removed last night.
How about #NB’s Paul Aubut, owner of a Saint-Quentin trucking company? He tells me this a.m. that he’s still not going anywhere.
But he’s on Kent Street, and notes that word is that police are starting to arrest those at the back of the pack on this street. He’s at the very front.
There are undoubtedly fewer trucks on Wellington today, but that said, there are still a lot here.
They have also parked is an “S” pattern, likely making it harder to tow them.
The Ottawa police have also sent out a warning to media that they too could be arrested.
And here’s the appropriate response to that:
The tricky part for me today is that the Parliamentary precinct has informed journalists that security services can lockdown buildings at any time. If you’re in the building, you can’t leave. So I risk being separated from my laptop, unless I carry it. Or risk being locked in.
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OK! Let’s update things. I just went for a walk around. The red arrows are police advancements. The have taken the intersection of Rideau and Sussex, but little else. The black scribbles are fronts put up by protesters. Thread…
Quebec riot police are the front line. The trucks behind them have been taken by police.
But you can also see there’s a big line of protesters, with trucks, and some more barriers they have in place.
For those watching at home, I’ve made a map. The red arrows are current police advancements. The black line is where some protesters have now fallen back to to build a barricade. That black rectangle is where the two #NB’ers from Grand Manan were parked, but have now gone home.
Peter Doull, a retired trucker from Grand Manan who spent 37 years on the highway and the last 21 days parked in front of Parliament Hill, and his son, James Doull, a diesel mechanic and fisherman, say they're leaving today.
They say it's due to a “family emergency."
“It’s critical, I’ve got to go,” Doull said, declining to elaborate. “It is what it is.
“I think we accomplished what we wanted to. But I think there still will be people who will try to stay here weeks on end.”
OK! Story filed. Let’s go do another protest walk through.
Missed it? Here’s my story on Trudeau kicking off the Emergencies Act debate: tj.news/telegraph-jour…#NB
Oh boy, immediately greeted by this guy on Bank Street. “They call my Mr. Freedom,” he says. He says he’s from Niagara.
Definitely a larger police presence today. But they’re largely just doing that, being a presence, walking here and there, stopping, milling about. This Bank and Wellington Streets.