Quebec police say they will be ready if protesting truckers return


“You have 15 days to get ready… and we will be an even larger group,” Beauce protest organizer Bernard “Rambo” Gauthier said.

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QUEBEC—With Ottawa’s downtown still locked up by anti-vaccine mandate protesters, Quebec City police and politicians Monday were congratulating themselves over the way they handled a similar protest in the provincial capital.

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But they are already planning for the possible return of the truck convoys that kept the city on edge for the whole weekend.

“I want to highlight the excellent work of police officers, their ability to anticipate the situation we were facing, for their planning on the sequence of events,” Quebec City police Chief Denis Turcotte said at a news conference held on the steps of police headquarters .

“I think we can say we attained the objectives we set out.”

Police announced that for the four days the convoys and protesters were present near the National Assembly and in the streets of the city, a total of 50 tickets were issued for violations of city regulations, 72 for violations of the traffic code and 48 parking tickets.

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Three people were arrested and one truck had to be towed when the driver refused orders to move.

While protesters demonstrated in the thousands Saturday — outnumbering people attending the annual winter Carnaval — the total dropped off dramatically Sunday.

By about 5:30 pm, the last dozen big rigs and trucks that had clogged René-Lévesque Blvd. near the legislature had packed up and gone home.

When they left, however, organizers vowed to return in two weeks, after the end of the Québec Carnival.

One of the organizers, Kevan “Big” Grenier told supporters the next time they gather the event will take on the air of a “Woodstock,” for freedom.

“We are going to leave tonight but we will be back,” added Bernard “Rambo” Gauthier, who organized the convoy that came from the Beauce “You have 15 days to get ready … and we will be an even larger group.”

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Police said they will be ready if this happens.

“If another demonstration happens in the city, as there are many per year on our territory, we will be there to respond,” Turcotte said.

He was cautious, however, when invited to comment on the situation in Ottawa, where police have been heavily criticized by citizens for their lack of action. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson Sunday declared a state of emergency in the capital city, with police now trying to counter the protest by cutting off their fuel and food supplies.

All Turcotte would say that each situation is different.

Quebec City Mayor Bruno Marchand praised the work of his police force on Sunday, a vast change from two months ago, when the force found itself in a crisis of videos showing the use of excessive force by certain officers.

Premier François Legault also praised all the police forces for their work in a tweet posted Sunday evening.

“I want to highlight the exemplary work of the Quebec City police and the Sûreté du Québec on the weekend, the leadership of Bruno Marchand and (Public Security Minister) Geneviève Guilbault and the peaceful nature of the protests,” Legault tweeted.

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