Halifax Regional Police Statement on Saturday protests involving vehicles

**** HRP Media Release

Halifax Regional Police Statement on Saturday protests involving vehicles

Below is a statement issued by Halifax Regional Police related to Saturday’s truck convoy protests: Members of the public and media have a number of questions about the expected weekend truck convoy protest and the effect it can have on our city, residences and businesses. While we cannot speak to the specifics of our operational deployments, we can confirm that multiple groups have noted that they will be headed to Halifax for a protest from different parts of Nova Scotia. We can’t speak to the specific or exact timing of these activities, but we can confirm that we expect these events to have an impact throughout the day. So today we would like to deliver two main messages. One, we ask everyone’s cooperation and patience as we respond to tomorrow’s events – and please avoid unnecessary travel. Secondly, we remind all members of the public and attendees to follow the rules and requirements – whether they are related to COVID-19 emergency measures or Motor Vehicle Act or marine laws or other violations. Our approach always starts with engagement; however, we will enforce as necessary including under the provisions of the emergency order. Another point we want to emphasize is that vehicles and people must make room for emergency vehicles to pass through. Emergency vehicles must not be slowed down by any participants. Doing so risks lives. At the last event we had reports of members of the public who were in attendance in order to protest these events. We respect everyone’s right to protest, however, we want everyone to remain mindful of the rules and requirements, so as to keep disruptions to a minimum. We acknowledge that these events will cause inconvenience to businesses and residences - we are asking everyone who plans to attend to show consideration during an already challenging time. We will have police presence as required throughout the city and our officers will do their very best to keep the traffic and streets flowing. We will be communicating through our social media channels tomorrow as updates take place. Once again, we strongly advise everyone planning to participate in these events, to follow the rules, and take responsibility for your actions. Thank you. The audio and video version of this statement can be found here: https://bit.ly/3HOQSYJ