Convoy protesters were expected to leave Ottawa during 1st week, city says

A new City of Ottawa memo is shedding more light on the early days of the truck convoy protest and when officials thought participants in the disruptive occupation were going to leave town.

The so-called Freedom Convoy, which occupied large swaths of downtown Ottawa for weeks, was dispersed by police from several agencies on Feb. 19, after protesters ignored many orders to leave. 

Three days earlier, the councillor for Ottawa’s Rideau-Vanier ward, Mathieu Fleury, peppered the city with questions about its response up to that date.

Among other things, Fleury asked what prompted the city to wait until Feb. 6 to declare its state of emergency rather