Canadian military ‘not a police force,’ Anand says amid frustration over Ottawa protest

Ottawa police Chief Peter Sloly told a meeting he is 'increasingly concerned there is no policing solution to this,' and suggested the military could be an option.

The Canadian military is not meant to act as a law enforcement body, says the country’s defence minister.

And there are no plans for it to do so in Ottawa, where local residents have been beset by blockaded streets and blaring horns throughout the days and nights for nearly a week from a trucker convoy.

“The Canadian Forces are not a police force,” tweeted Defence Minister Anita Anand on Thursday.

“As such, there are no plans for the Canadian Armed Forces to be involved in the current situation in Ottawa in a law enforcement capacity.”

The trucker convoy has been blockading the streets of downtown Ottawa since Friday afternoon, and Ottawa police say numbers are expected to swell once again this weekend.

Global News has spoken to multiple downtown hotels whose staff have said they are booked solid for the upcoming weekend, though they could not say with certainty whether the people booking the rooms planned to take part in the convoy.

Local residents have been going through what police board chair Diane Deans called a “living hell” on Wednesday, as local councillors speaking at a police service board meeting repeatedly described the convoy camped out on Ottawa’s streets as an “occupation” and a “siege.”