Washington, Feb 7 : Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson has declared a state of emergency in the city amid the ongoing protests against COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates, the city administration said. “Declaring a state of emergency reflects the serious danger and threat to the safety and security of residents posed by the ongoing demonstrations and highlights the need for support from other jurisdictions and levels of government,” the City of Ottawa announced on Sunday. According to the release, Mayor Jim Watson declared a state of emergency on Sunday to provide “greater flexibility” within the Ottawa city administration to maintain the work of essential services and help purchase the necessary equipment for first responders and frontline workers. Earlier on Sunday, Watson said on Ottawa’s CFRA radio that the ongoing protests are “the height of irresponsibility and criminal behavior” and that city residents and local businesses are suffering because of the major disruptions the truckers and protesters are causing. “The situation at this point is completely out of control,” the mayor said, critiquing the “outrageous behavior by these individuals who think this is a big party and a big joke.” “Clearly, we’re outnumbered and we’re losing this battle right now, and this has to be reversed, we have to get our city back,” Watson stressed. The current wave of protests against COVID-19 measures in Canada started at the end of January, when thousands of truckers and other demonstrators gathered in Ottawa expressing strong opposition to vaccine mandates for truckers crossing the US-Canada border. The so-called “Freedom Convoy” protests have been generally peaceful, but dozens of criminal investigations have been launched into a series of incidents and at least seven people have been arrested in Ottawa. On Friday, Premier of Canada’s Ontario Province Doug Ford described the demonstrations in Ottawa as “occupation” and urged people to put an end to it.(UNI)