Canadian officials have moved Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family from their home in Ottawa to a secret location over safety concerns after thousands of people protesting vaccine mandates flooded the Canadian capital Saturday.
Trudeau's office would not comment on the family's location, reports the CBC. The prime minister was moved after the Canadian Parliament's Sergeant-at-Arms warned demonstrators could show up at officials' homes.
The Trudeaus live at Rideau Cottage, located on the property at the Governor General's residence, which is about 2.5 miles away from the center of the massive protests.
Trudeau's itinerary simply says that he is in the "national capital region." The prime minister, however, is in isolation after one of his children recently tested positive for COVID-19.
The prime minister's home came under attack in 2020 when a Canadian Armed Forces member with a gun rammed a vehicle into the property's gates.
So far, the protests have not turned violent, according to local law enforcement officials.
Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly commented that organizers have said the protests will be a weekend event, but it could stretch through the week. He added that decisions to stop the protests will depend on public safety concerns or if there is a break in communications with the protests' organizers.
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said Friday that there were some signs of "flagrant extremism" in some of the protesters, with some comparing vaccine mandates to actions that happened in Nazi Germany and calling for violence to be used to overthrow the government.
"That is not about freedom and it's certainly not about truckers," Mendocino told the CBC.
The trucker convoy arrived on Parliament Hill to demand the government end COVID-19 mandates and other health restrictions. It was accompanied by hundreds of protesters on foot, despite a warning for extreme cold weather.
Police estimated that up to 10,000 people could be in Ottawa by the end of the day Saturday.
"I've never done anything like this in my life. I'm 53 years old and this is the hill I'm going to die on. Do not tell me I have to put something in my body," one of the protesters, who said she had been fired from her job as a dental hygienist because she refused to be vaccinated, told CBC News.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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