Canadian police start arresting protesters from Ottawa trucker convoy

Seventy people were arrested and at least 21 vehicles towed away, as police exercised emergency powers which Trudeau invoked on Monday.

Truck horns blared as hundreds of police, some carrying rifles, others with riot shields and gas masks, moved in on a protest camp near Parliament Hill on Friday morning. Scuffles broke out when officers detained a number of demonstrators, leading some away in handcuffs.

A police drone hovered overhead as more officers on horseback and at least three armoured vehicles arrived at the scene.

Police commanders had made it clear on Thursday they were preparing to end the siege and remove more than 300 trucks, camper vans and other vehicles that have blockaded the city since late January.

For the first time since the protests began, police vastly outnumbered the demonstrators, allowing officers to take control of sections of the protest camps. The heavily increased presence allowed them to use greater force, including smashing the windows of vehicles and dragging out drivers.

Some protesters linked arms and refused to move as the police line pushed forward; some sang the national anthem O Canada! and called for non-violence while others struggled and shouted insults at the officers.

Several children were present during the scuffles at the protest camp, despite warnings from police that parents in the convoy should find alternative care in the event they faced arrest.