Canada trucker protest: Defiance as Ottawa blockade grinds on

Truckers in Ottawa are vowing to continue their protests despite a state of emergency and mounting frustration and anger among residents.

For more than a week now, anti-vaccine mandate protests have paralysed the city's core, forcing businesses to close and disrupting daily life.

On Monday morning several of them told the BBC they will stay until their demands are met.

There are thousands of protesters and hundreds of trucks in Canada's capital.

The so-called Freedom Convoy is in response to the introduction of a rule that all truckers must be vaccinated to cross the US border.

But its members want a relaxation of all kinds of mandates - in parts of Canada you need to show you're vaccinated to enter indoor venues like restaurants, gyms and bars.

"Canada has never been stronger. We see a united people that have come together," said Rand Freeman, a 33-year veteran of the Canadian military told the BBC.

"We know that throughout history, first they ignore you, then they ridicule and mock you, then they attack you, and then you win. We're entering the attack phase".

Mr Freeman said he was unconcerned by police warnings that those bringing fuel to protesters in a "red zone" in Ottawa's downtown could be arrested.

"They need to give the illusion that they've won," he added. "But they know they've let that genie out of the bottle and can't get that genie back in."

On Sunday, Ottawa mayor Jim Watson told radio station CFRA that authorities were "losing this battle" against the protesters gathered in the city's centre near Parliament Hill.

While he did not specify what new actions would be taken following the declaration of a state of emergency, police have said they will begin to step up enforcement and warned that those bringing the truckers fuel may be subject to arrest.

Trucker Lloyd Brubacher placed the blame on the ongoing protesters squarely on the shoulders of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the Canadian government.

"If he dropped all the mandates, all the truckers would go home as fast as we came," he said. "Ottawa would be an open city."

Mr Brubacher said he was supporting the protests because he fears his nine-year-old son would grow up "not having the right to choose for his freedom and his rights".

"All I want is the right to choose between getting the vax or not getting the vax," he said.

Police said they had made seven arrests and seized "multiple" vehicles of fuel, with 60 criminal investigations so far opened in relation to the protests.