Ottawa’s mayor said Saturday that he’d like the city to sell the confiscated trucks seized from protesters to recoup costs incurred by the city in recent weeks.
Mayor Jim Watson said that he is directing his city’s solicitor and manager to begin the process of selling the confiscated vehicles so they don’t end up in the hands of the protestors again, in an interview with the CBC. He said Canada’s Emergencies Act gives the city the power to do so.
“I’ve asked our solicitor and our city manager, how can we keep the tow trucks and the campers and the vans and everything else that we’ve confiscated, and sell those pieces of equipment to help recoup some of the costs that our taxpayers are absorbing,” Watson said Saturday. “So that’s one of the provisions of the Emergency Act, and we have been a beneficiary of the Emergency Act.”
Mayor of Ottawa looking to rake in a pretty penny for the city by… selling the trucks and equipment they confiscated under the emergency powers. OK then.pic.twitter.com/Vlk9fDlV0m
— Justin Hart (@justin_hart) February 21, 2022
Police in Ottawa began to crack down Friday on the truckers who had parked their vehicles near the Canadian capital for weeks. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signed the Emergencies Act for the first time ever, expanding policing power and allowing the government to cut off financial support and other resources for the protesters.
By Saturday afternoon, 170 people had been arrested and 47 trucks had been seized, according to the CBC. The policing tactics used to disperse the protesters came under fire from some observers, as officers on horseback trampled some demonstrators and riot cops fired projectiles at others, causing some injuries. (RELATED: Canadian Civil Liberties Association Sues Government After Trudeau Invokes Emergencies Act)
“I want to see them sold. I don’t want the return to these people who’ve been causing such frustration and angst in our community,” Watson said. “You can’t come to Ottawa anymore and shut down our city for four weeks.”