Canada Day: Flags, celebrities, gather on the hills. Family picnic in Strascona Park was canceled after the arrest of the War Memorial

The Canadian flag was popular on Wellington Street on Friday. However, during the winter protests, there were few "freedom" screams this time, and the horn did not sound.

On Friday morning, police officers from several police agencies waited and a tow truck was parked on a side street near downtown.

The crowd grew all morning and most people seemed excited to celebrate the first major face-to-face celebration of Canada Day since the pandemic began.

Parliamentary protection service personnel checked the bags and used a handheld metal detector to screen out those who were about to enter the parliamentary hills. Weapons, alcohol, tents and barbecues were among the banned items on the hill. Signs and banners are allowed, but only if they are made of paperboard or cloth.

The Canadian flag was also welcomed, but the authorities warned on social media, not the flagpole.

Dozens of "Freedom Convoy" supporters gathered near the War Memorial and milled on Wellington Street.

Canadian flag-covered men and women laughed at the list of banned items on the hills.

"This is not Canada," the woman said. "This is shameful."

They drove five hours to come to Ottawa to "regain our freedom," they said in an interview, but they "mainstream." I didn't want to give them their name because I didn't trust the media. "

They planned to participate in protests against the obligation of the vaccine, but they still couldn't fly abroad to meet their families, they said. But on Friday morning, they were happy to blend in with the crowd only once. They said they had been harassed in the past for wearing Canadian flag-raising apparel in Ottawa. Now everyone is decorating the maple leaves.

Meanwhile, according to the organizers, theGuard Family Day picnic scheduled for Friday at Straskona Park has been cancelled.

Police guards hosting the event quoted an incident at the National War Memorial, where police officers were suffocated on Thursday night and four were reportedly arrested. And announced on Twitter.

"Unfortunately, there was a violent incident at the War Memorial of Korea tonight after James Top and his crew left." "We cannot put our children at potential risk, so we are not careful."

Police on Guard, consisting of active and retired police officers. for Thee opposes many of the COVID-19 related missions.

The Thursday evening incident was after arriving at the top monument to a Canadian soldier who marched from Vancouver to Ottawa to Ottawa.

Vaccine mandated and other opponents of COVID-19 measures, top leaders ordered from the military in February to comments made while wearing. And was charged with two acts against the prejudice of discipline. His uniform.

At the commemorative ceremony on Thursday, military reserves spoke to about 1,200 people. "

" I met thousands of people on my trip from Vancouver to Ottawa, "he said. "And many of them have lost hope. They are lost. They are angry. They have lost confidence in the system. We have already started something."

"Watch out for the phone," he added. "Assemble. Organize yourself. Plan. What is the answer? Nonviolence. Peace."

Earlier in the day, Pierre Poirievre, who expects conservative leadership, goes to freedom. He joined the top in the final round of March.

Meanwhile, Ottawa's Articles of Incorporation officers have been issuing 275 tickets in the last 24 hours, towing 79 vehicles and continuing to target vehicles in the "exclusion zone".

Ottawa police called for RCMP backups to avoid repeated "freedom convoys" that overtook most of downtown Ottawa last January and February. rice field. A valid "vehicle exclusion zone" around the Parliament Building. Mayor Jim Watson headed downtown to celebrate Canada Day directly and urged people not to be threatened or bullied by those trying to interfere with the party.

Most of Friday's official ceremonies take place at Lebreton Flats in front of the Canadian War Museum.

-Use Matthew Lapierre and Bruce Deachman files

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