Feds dismiss suggestion they should 'step in' as trucker convoy protests continue

Federal Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino is dismissing a suggestion from one Ottawa city councillor that it's time for the federal government and RCMP to 'step in' to secure the downtown core, as the trucker convoy protests continue.

“Ottawa police are the police of jurisdiction when it comes to Wellington Street and the city generally, but federal public safety partners, including the RCMP, PPS [Parliamentary Protective Service], sergeant-at-arms, have been in constant communication with Ottawa police,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

The convoy has now been entrenched on Wellington Street and along other main downtown roadways for four full days, with organizers digging in and stating an intent to stay indefinitely, despite their supporters thinning out considerably since the weekend.

On Tuesday, city councillor for the Somerset Ward Catherine McKenney called for the federal government to step in.

“This is federal jurisdiction, this should be turned over to the RCMP, allowing our police services to come back into our neighbourhoods, and deal with things like dangerous driving, illegal parking, the noise, the harassment of people in our neighbourhoods, it just has to stop,” McKenney said.