Live Blog: Ottawa convoy protest ends on day 16 as Ambassador Bridge clearing halts – National

The so-called ‘freedom convoy’ originally intended to protest against COVID-19 vaccination mandates and quarantine rules for cross-border truckers entered its 16th day on Saturday with more than 4,000 protesters gathered in Ottawa.

Ottawa police said the app was limited due to “safety concerns” such as “aggressive and unlawful behavior.”

The federal government warned late Saturday that the consequences for protesters who break the laws would be “increasingly severe.”

READ MORE: Ottawa police have been ‘incredible,’ convoy protesters say, as calls for a crackdown mount

Meanwhile, police efforts to clear a blockade in Windsor, Ont., were halted as hundreds of protesters gathered near the Ambassador Bridge, Canada’s busiest border crossing into the United States.

Police said they told protesters at the scene to go home, and several began packing tents.

But others remained, either in trucks or on foot, carrying Canadian flags and sometimes shouting “freedom.”

Police maintain a heavy presence at the entrance to the bridge, where traffic is at a standstill for most of the week.

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Other protests gathered across the country, including in British Columbia, where a large truck broke through an RCMP barricade at the US border.

-With files from The Canadian Press and Eric Stober