Mayor Tells Canadian Vaccine Protesters It's Time to Leave, but Group Vows to Stay

As some protesters from last weekend's demonstration against vaccine and mask mandates in Canada's capital remain and say they have the funds to stay for years and plan to stay until all COVID restrictions are lifted, officials from across the country have encouraged the protesters to go home and move on.

Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson has urged the demonstrators to leave and has discussed the idea of towing or ticketing the vehicles that are disrupting traffic and causing road and building closures, CBC News reported.

The protests peaked at several thousand people on Saturday and Sunday, with some leaving Monday and early Tuesday, but a "smaller but still significant number" remain, according to the Associated Press. Those still in the streets have called for the removal of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his administration, which has called the protesters a "fringe minority."

CBC News also reported that Watson said Ottawa police have been hesitant to enforce ticketing measures to encourage the protesters to leave because of the number of them still in the city and concerns that imposing penalties could make the group more hostile and potentially violent.

"You've made your message. It's completely been overshadowed by the outrageous behavior of people downtown.…I think they've hurt their credibility, and I think it's time for them to move on," Watson was quoted by the Ottawa Citizen.

The "outrageous behavior" Watson cited included protesters who allegedly danced on Canada's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, urinated in public, demanded free meals from a homeless shelter in the city and vandalized a statue of Terry Fox, a Canadian man who fundraised for cancer research, according to the Associated Press.

While the Ottawa Citizen reported that the protests have upset many in the city, Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly said the situation could have become much worse over the weekend, according to CTV News.

"It could have led to significant and severe injuries, and it could have led to the loss of life," Sloly said, according to CTV. "None of that has occurred over the last four days.

"No riots, no injuries, no deaths. That is a measure of success for any jurisdiction in Canada, and quite frankly anywhere in the world."

The Citizen also reported that Watson has asked Ottawa legal officials if the city could access the GoFundMe page set up by the protesters, which currently totals over $9.7 million Canadian dollars ($7.6 million USD), to pay for the extra cost of policing the protest.

CTV reported that Ottawa police estimate that monitoring the protest has cost the department about $800,000 per day.