Canada police to end siege of capital by protesters fighting Covid measures

The drivers, joined by thousands of demonstrators and some 400 vehicles, turned the streets around Parliament into a noisy party zone since first arriving on January 2

Canadian police are poised to clear out on Friday hundreds of truck drivers from Ottawa who have staged a three-week-long protest against pandemic restrictions that has crippled the capital and prompted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to assume emergency powers for the first time in more than 50 years.

The drivers, joined by thousands of demonstrators and some 400 vehicles, turned the streets around Parliament into a noisy party zone since first arriving on Jan. 28, in what has become one of the worst crises to hit Trudeau since he took power in 2015.

Police made a handful of arrests Thursday evening, including