Many more joined the ongoing trucker-led protest in Ottawa with the arrival of the weekend. Its numbers grew from the night of Feb. 11 into the next morning, as supporters seemingly poured into the city.
Greater masses of people were particularly noticeable on Parliament Hill and then later on the streets, where they spilled out from the immediate vicinity of the truck blockade.
At about 10 a.m., several thousand protesters were marshaled into groups to form the word “freedom.” They then waved their red and white maple leaf flags and sang the national anthem, “O Canada,” with passion and rousing volume. On finishing, they burst into loud cheering and the maple leaves waved again.
The effort helped rouse the spirits of the protesters on what was a very cold winter’s day, as the morning temperature reached as low as negative 10 degrees Celsius (14 degrees Fahrenheit), and snow was being whipped into the air by a gusty wind.