Voices of Ottawa: Protesters vow to stay. Ottawans say it’s time they go.

OTTAWA — For more than two weeks, demonstrators, some of them in big trucks, have descended on the Canadian capital to protest coronavirus vaccine mandates. The movement, which demonstrators call the “Freedom Convoy,” has brought disruption and unrest to Ottawa. Fireworks and horn-honking echo late into the night, while authorities and truckers remain in a standoff.

Ninety percent of Canadian truckers are vaccinated. Many are distancing themselves from the convoy. The protests began in late January after the United States and Canada imposed new rules requiring truck drivers to be fully vaccinated to cross the border. The movement has since evolved into a larger protest against pandemic-related restrictions.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday became the first leader to invoke Canada’s Emergencies Act. Officials say it will give the government more tools to break up what they call illegal blockades in Ottawa and at several border crossings.

Demonstrators have said they remain determined to fight.

“I love it here,” Mike Johnson, 53, who drove from Ontario’s Niagara region in his truck, said before Trudeau’s declaration. “I’ll stay to the end.”

Even non-truckers came out to show their support. Mike Marsh, 48, from Pine Falls, Manitoba, said he came in a personal vehicle and would “stay until the mandates are lifted.”

“I’ve never been so proud to be Canadian,” he said.

Some Ottawans are frustrated with the chaos they say is plaguing their city.

Ann Miller, 62, is vaccinated. She said she grew up going to protests in Ottawa. “But our protests were on the sidewalk, and they were peaceful. They didn’t disrupt," she said. “I don’t know why these guys can’t do the same thing.”

“It’s just rude and not Canadian,” she said. “That’s not how we do things here.”

Brock Caissie, 36, brought his family to Ottawa from Prince Edward Island to protest the mandates.

“We don’t have to have the government telling us what we have to do and we can’t do when it’s our right to choose,” Caissie said. He said he is not vaccinated.

His children were born during the pandemic. Seeing him and his wife in public with masks on terrifies their son, he said.

Erin Chapman, 27, said the honking drove her and her dog mad.

The arrival of the protesters has made her feel unsafe. She is vaccinated.

“I saw people defecating in the streets, people drinking in the streets, people bring propane tanks into a downtown residential neighborhood, so if one cigarette butt goes off, the entire neighborhood is up in flames,” she said.

Nathan Jack, 35, of Toronto, found the protest “the most beautiful place on earth.” He is not vaccinated.

“The love, the compassion,” he said. “This protest is the most important event of my lifetime. It’s our Normandy.”

Cole Rivard, 37, of Ottawa, said he had seen people “go on racist rants.” He is vaccinated.

“I caught a video at one point of somebody at the local McDonald’s telling a woman who is clearly Canadian, because she had a darker complexion, to ‘get the hell of my country,' and stuff like that.”

“I’ve heard from people who have been threatened just for wearing a mask walking down the street.”

Minakshi and Animesh Das immigrated to Canada six months ago. Both are fully vaccinated. They have found their lives disrupted by the protests, with prices rising in grocery stores and the honking making it "impossible for people to sleep,” Animesh said.

Christine Lewis, 37, said she experienced a severe allergic reaction after her first coronavirus vaccination. She came from St. Catharines in southern Ontario to stand with the protesters. “People should have a choice,” she said.

Andre Landry came to Ottawa from Quebec with his wife, Ann. He said he has been at the protest for two weeks and plans to stay as long as he can. They are both unvaccinated and don’t want their kids “to have to be vaccinated to be able to go to the store," Andre said.

Bobby Ramsay of Ottawa said he has had good conversations with protesters. He also thinks it’s time for them to leave his city.

“It’s affecting the residents in the neighborhoods, and they are scared,” said Ramsay, who is vaccinated. "I came down here so that people are confronted with that reality.”

Amy Sevigny of Guelph, Ontario, said that getting the vaccine was best for her but that she believes people should have a choice and the government “cannot force anything on anybody’s body.”

“We really needed this protest after two years of restrictions," she added.

Dana-Lee Melfi, 50, said he has been standing 10 hours a day with “no signs, no nothing, with the most powerful weapon ever, and that is my fingers in peace.”

“We will combat this tyranny with love and peace,” he said. “We are going to change the world.”

Anastasia Reeve’s family and fiance are vaccinated, but she said she’s worried about her health if she gets the shots. The 38-year-old came to Ottawa from Toronto. She plans to stay as long as she can, but she wants to return to her life. “I just want to back to work and get married at city hall,” she said.

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Editing by Chloe Coleman, Reem Akkad and Matthew Brown