False: Ontario Provincial Police has reported over 100,000 trucks and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police has reported over 130,000 trucks in the "Freedom Convoy 2022" in Ottawa.

By: Ishita Goel
February 2 2022

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The number of trucks in Ottawa is not reported to be as high as 100,000.Freedom Convoy 2022 is an ongoing protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates in Canada. Truck convoys and pedestrians first gathered in Ottawa for the demonstration on January 29. The protest has led to false and misleading claims on social media. A post on Facebook, for example, stated that: "Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) has reported over 100,000 trucks, and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) reports over 130,000 trucks in Ottawa under "Freedom Convoy 2022." The numbers appear to be exaggerated. Associated Press (AP) contacted CPP and RCMP to confirm the numbers. Both said that they did not issue any estimates or statements. Stéphanie Dumoulin, a spokesperson for RCMP, told AP that "the RCMP did not issue any numbers publicly in relation to this." Similarly, Bill Dickson, a spokesperson for CPP told them: "We have not released any numbers." Acting Deputy Chief Trish Ferguson had said the number of vehicles "is likely to be in the thousands." The Ottawa Police Service clarified that the exact numbers of the vehicles could not be determined. Estimating the number of vehicles is difficult as they converge from different directions, from different cities. Passenger and recreational vehicles, as well as trucks, are involved in the demonstration. There are no reliable reports suggesting that there are 100,000 trucks in Ottawa. We have marked the claim as false.