OTTAWA, 09 February 2022, (TON): Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is demanding an end to a protest by hundreds of truckers that has paralysed the capital, as local authorities called for federal support.

The so-called Freedom Convoy and their supporters began arriving in Ottawa late in January to denounce an order requiring truckers to be fully vaccinated in order to cross Canada’s land border with the United States.

According to the Canadian Anti-Hate Network non-profit group “the protests were organised by known far-right figures who have espoused Islamophobic, anti-Semitic and other hateful views.”

“It has to stop,” Trudeau said during an emergency debate in the House of Commons on his return to parliament after isolating for a week due to a positive coronavirus test.

“This pandemic has sucked for all Canadians,” he added, visibly frustrated.

“But Canadians know the way to get through it is continuing to listen to science, continuing to lean on each other.” Trudeau pledged federal government support “with whatever resources the province and city need”, without elaborating what measures might be planned.