People gather on a bridge over Highway 400 in support of truckers, who are on their way to Ottawa for the "freedom convoy" protest, in Vaughan, Ontario, Canada, on Jan. 27, 2022. The "freedom convoy" was sparked by outrage over a vaccine mandate recently imposed on Canadian-U.S. cross-border truckers.(Photo: Xinhua)

The last big rigs were towed Sunday out of Canada's capital, where the streets were quiet for the first time in almost a month after a massive police operation ended a drawn-out siege by protesters opposing COVID-19 health rules.

A major cleanup was underway in Ottawa's snowy downtown, where police in riot gear had faced off with trucker-led demonstrators for two full days, finally driving them out of their protest hub outside parliament.

"I'm very happy to have my city back," Jeff Lindley, who lives and works downtown, told AFP. "It's so much better today, calmer and quieter without the ominous presence of all the trucks and protesters."

Ottawa interim police Chief Steve Bell told a news conference "many of the unlawful protesters are gone."

But he added, "We're not done this operation yet," explaining that authorities were on watch to "make sure that nobody returns to occupy our streets again."

A few protesters stayed late into Saturday night, singing '80s protest anthems and setting off fireworks outside a hastily erected 4-meter-high security fence surrounding the parliamentary precinct.

But the last gasp protest-turned-street-party fizzled as a deep freeze gripped the city.

Early Sunday, police were manning checkpoints restricting access to a 500-acre (200-hectare) downtown area, while a sizable force remained on standby to defend the ground reclaimed from the truckers.

An AFP journalist saw only a handful of protesters in the area, testing the perimeter.

One who gave his name only as John said he was packing it in after wandering for hours with a Canadian flag in hand.

"It's pretty locked down, all I see is cops everywhere," he told AFP.

Ottawa police issued a reminder that the core area remains off-limits except to local residents and workers, and advised any remaining protesters to leave or risk arrest.

Bell said four people had been arrested inside the security zone - for a total of 191, including protest leaders, since police moved in on Friday.

He said 79 vehicles had been towed out of the city center - paralyzed since January 29 when hundreds of vehicles parked there in protest.

AFP