Ottawa police prepare for Quebec-based truck protest to roll into Ottawa on Monday

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Ottawa police are preparing for the possibility a protest by Quebec truck drivers could roll across the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge and into Lowertown Monday morning, impacting the morning commute.

A group called “Assez c’est assez” organized a demonstration in several Quebec cities Monday morning, including Gatineau, protesting the Quebec Ministry of Transportation over conditions in the province’s trucking industry.

The rolling protest is set to begin at 5 a.m.

According to the group’s Facebook page, the protest will travel along Highway 50 and Highway 5 in Gatineau to the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge, cross the bridge to Boteler Street, turn around and travel back across the Ottawa River to Gatineau.

The Ottawa Police Service says one lane of the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge will be temporarily closed from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. Monday morning.

Motorists are being warned to expect slower traffic and delays on King Edward Avenue, Dalhousie Street, Boteler Street and Sussex Drive.

“Plan extra time, consider alternate routes or transit, and avoid the area if you can,” police said on X Friday afternoon.

In a memo to members of the Ottawa Police Services Board and senior managers at Ottawa City Hall, Acting Chief Paul Burnett said the Ottawa Police Service received information that the Quebec-based truck operators are planning a protest aimed at disrupting traffic Monday morning.

“All of our teams are engaged and plans for our core hardening and other traffic measures have been put in place,” Burnett wrote in the memo obtained by CTV News Ottawa.

“Our operational posture to ensure vehicle-based demonstrations in areas of national significance are not allowed remains in place.”

Burnett says the service is working closely with policing and city partners to “actively plan a response that include measures to prevent vehicles entering the Parliamentary Precinct.”

Heavy tow trucks and equipment will be pre-positioned in the downtown core “should it be required,” according to Burnett.

Vehicle-based protests are prohibited in downtown Ottawa.

The Sûreté du Québec plan to have officers along Highway 50 and Highway 5, with support from Gatineau police.

The protest is focusing on what organizers call lax training standards and weak enforcement in the trucking industry across Quebec.

“This has been approved with [Quebec provincial police] (SQ) and engineers to make sure that we can drive on the road that we are asking for,” protest coordinator Steve Bourgeois told CTV News Montreal.

“They ask us to do it for security matters, for emergencies. People can still go to work. The left lane will always be available.”

The truckers point to an increase in tragic road accidents involving 18-wheelers, blaming new drivers with poor training and inadequate licences.

“These drivers were getting poor training and were obtaining their driver’s permit through suspicious channels with the authorities,” said Marc Cadieux with the Quebec Trucking Association.

Cadieux told CTV News Montreal that truck drivers are not required to take driving courses in Quebec.

The Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec said it is working on a new legal framework and new rules for trucks.

With files from CTV News Montreal’s Stephane Giroux