Truck protest in Gatineau cancelled Monday morning

Construction cones block off a lane of traffic on the Ontario- and Quebec-bound portion of the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge as seen from Ottawa on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. According to the Ottawa Police Service, a group cancelled a scheduled protest against Quebec's trucking industry which aimed to slow-roll the commuter bridge. (Spencer Colby/THE CANADIAN PRESS)

A rolling protest by Quebec-based truck drivers along roads in Gatineau and Ottawa’s Lowertown neighbourhood Monday morning has been cancelled.

The group, called “Assez c’est assez” (enough is enough), planned protests in Gatineau, Montreal and other cities across Quebec, beginning at 5 a.m.

Police had warned there would be delays on Highway 5 and Highway 50 in Gatineau and on streets in Ottawa’s Lowertown neighbourhood. One lane of the Macdonald-Cartier Bridge was scheduled to be closed until 9 a.m. for the protest.

However, the planned protest was cancelled in Gatineau early Monday morning, according to police.

The group “enough is enough” says truckers across Quebec are protesting lax training standards and weak enforcement in the trucking industry in the province.

The truckers point to an increase in tragic road accidents involving 18-wheelers on Quebec roads.

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

Increased police presence

Ottawa police said there would be an increased police presence during the protest.

“All of our teams are engaged and plans for our core hardening and other traffic measures have been put in place,” Deputy Chief Paul Burnett wrote in the memo to members of the Ottawa Police Service’s Board last week.

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

Burnett said police had planned a response to “prevent vehicles entering the Parliamentary Precinct.”

Vehicle-based protests are prohibited in downtown Ottawa.