Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson is suggesting selling the 53 trucks and other vehicles towed and impounded by cops this weekend to pay for the policing costs incurred by the right wing anti-vax protest that paralyzed the Canadian capital city for weeks, CTV News reports.
“I’ve asked our city manager, for instance, how can we take possession of all of those trucks that have been towed away? How can we confiscate those and sell those trucks to help pay for some of our costs? I don’t think the taxpayers of Ottawa should be paying for this multi-million dollar bill that we’re going to be saddled with because of the irresponsibility and the illegal activities of a bunch of truckers and others who showed little regard for our community and its people,” said Watson in an interview with CTV News at Six. Ottawa is tens of millions in the hole in police overtime pay after the occupation, though some funds are on the way from the federal government to cover the costs.