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Rebel News’ Lincoln Jay has been in downtown Ottawa with the “Freedom Convoy” since the beginning of the anti-mandate protests. On Feb. 17, Jay spoke to truckers to see what they thought about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to invoke Canada’s Emergencies Act.

The Emergencies Act gives the government legal authority to identify and seize the bank accounts of the peaceful protestors, seize and suspend protestors’ driver’s licenses and force tow companies to move the truckers out of the capital.

“It’s a war on our resources — to try and choke the truck drivers out,” one protestor told Rebel News.

Another trucker said he believed Trudeau was bluffing, and that “this is the biggest poker game I’ve ever seen in my whole life.”

“[From Trudeau] it’s just been one threat after another threat … and the solution is not in our hands yet, so we are not leaving” said another protester.

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All of the protestors said they have no plans on moving their trucks or going anywhere.

“They’re going to have to drag my truck out piece by piece,” one said.

“I hope they take my debt,” another trucker joked, referring to the threat of the government seizing his bank account.

“At this point I have no job so what am I going to lose?” another asked.

Meanwhile, though truckers said they plan to remain in the capital until their demands are met, the police response is growing more aggressive.

Here’s the latest:

  • Canadian police arrested Freedom Convoy organizer Tamara Lich, Fox News reported. Photos of the arrest were posted on Twitter.
  • Ottawa Police told members of the media and journalists to keep out of the protest area, threatening to arrest “anyone found within areas undergoing enforcement.”
  • Police “cordoned off large swaths of downtown Ottawa and set up checkpoints” around what they deemed “illegal encampments,” The Washington Post reported.
  • On the advice of security officials, Canadian lawmakers canceled a parliamentary discussion to debate the decision to invoke the Emergencies Act, according to the Wall Street Journal.

In response to a private class action lawsuit against participants in the convoy,  an Ontario court ordered the freezing of cryptocurrency assets in more than 120 different addresses tied to Bitcoin and Etherium.