Freedom Convoy: No plans to call in military to move truckers, says Trudeau

Canada's prime minister has said sending in troops to clear protestors from the nation's capital is "not in the cards right now".

The city's police chief had earlier refused to rule out military intervention to remove demonstrators.

Thousands arrived in the city last weekend to protest vaccine mandates, gridlocking downtown Ottawa.

Police Chief Peter Sloly warned that protests could grow again this weekend.

"There may not be a policing solution" to resolve the impasse, he said on Wednesday.

Though many protesters have left over the course of the week, some 250 remain who are "a highly determined and highly volatile group of unlawful individuals," Chief Sloly has said.

On Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that his government had received no formal request for military assistance to remove this core group of protestors who have been camped out in and around parliament.

"One has to be very, very cautious before deploying military in situations engaging Canadians," he added, saying it's not something to "enter into lightly".

Mr Trudeau has told the protestors to "go home" - a sentiment echoed by city officials.

Ottawa residents have also expressed frustration over the demonstrations, complaining of constant noise, an impact on local businesses and public services, and unruly and aggressive behaviour.

Organisers representing the so-called Freedom Convoy have said they plan to remain in Ottawa "for as long as it takes" until all Covid-19 mandates are lifted nationwide.

Police have begun ticketing protesters, writing 30 traffic tickets for infractions like excessive noise for horn honking and disobeying street signs.

A fundraiser in support of the rally that had raised over C$10m ($7.9m; £5.8m) - with about C$1m released so far to organisers - was recently paused for review by GoFundMe.

The Freedom Convoy began in response to a federal vaccine mandate imposed by the Canadian government on 15 January that requires unvaccinated truckers returning from across the US border to quarantine.

Supporters are also pushing for the repeal of other Covid-19 restrictions they view as government overreach.