Downtown protests peaceful so far, says Winnipeg Mayor, Chief of Police – Winnipeg | The Canadian News

An ongoing protest by the Manitoba legislature has – so far – not led to serious problems, according to city officials.

Mayor Brian Bowman, along with Winnipeg Police Chief Danny Smyth and Jason Shaw of the city’s emergency operations center, said Friday afternoon the situation is being monitored, but it appears to be going smoothly.

Bowman told the media he was in close contact with his provincial counterparts throughout the day and also reached out to Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, whose city is experiencing a similar protest on a larger scale.

“The City is closely monitoring the situation,” he said, “especially for maintaining access to emergency services.

“I have seen some reports of temporary business disruptions – this is not something we want to see in the long run.

“Businesses were particularly hard hit during the pandemic. We do not want to see additional and prolonged disruptions for our local businesses. ”

Smyth said police worked with the protest organizers, and that an estimated 50-70 vehicles – a mix of semi-trucks, passenger vehicles and farm tractors – occupied an area between Broadway and Memorial Boulevard with minimal traffic disruption.

“We’re not experiencing any real issues at the moment,” Smyth said.

“We allowed the protesters to use Memorial Boulevard to – to some extent – stage (their protest) from Broadway to York.

“At this time, the organizers were quite with the police and we exist there together.”

The city said there was little disruption in other city services, apart from a few Winnipeg Transit redirects in the area.

2:50Vehicles at Manitoba Legislature Friday morning for truck protest