In a letter to Trudeau and the public safety minister, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said “what was initially described as a peaceful protest has now turned into a siege of our downtown area” with 400 to 500 trucks. He asked for 1,800 additional police officers. That would nearly double the existing resources of the entire Ottawa Police Service, which has 2,100 police and civilian members.

Dominic LeBlanc, the minister of intergovernmental affairs, blamed the GOP interference for inciting disorderly conduct and helping to fund entities that are not respecting Canadian law. Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair said Paxton was wrong for commenting on it.

Bruce Heyman, a former U.S. ambassador to Canada, said groups in the U.S. need to stop funding and interfering in the domestic affairs of America’s neighbor.

On the street in front of Parliament Hill were thousands of signs ranging from “no more mandates” and “freedom of choice” to “truck you Trudeau” and some compared vaccine mandates to fascism.