Police close roads near Queen’s Park Tuesday ahead of planned protest ‘involving vehicles’ – Toronto

Toronto Police say roads in and around Queen’s Park are closed due to “a potential demonstration involving a number of vehicles.”

Police issued the traffic alert about the road closures just before 5 a.m. on Tuesday.

“Our intelligence is indicating it’s a demonstration involving vehicles to come to the City of Toronto and we are closing the roads to ensure the roads stay clear,” Duty Inspector Suzanne Redman told reporters.

Redman said the demonstrators are part of the Save The Children protest group.

She would not speculate on the number of vehicles planning to attend but said “they are intending to block roads and infrastructure and we are going to limit the access to the downtown core.”

“It’s a matter of we’re trying to maintain the city’s inner workings. It would be frustrating to have the convoy blocking roads and people not being able to get where they need to go,” Redman added

The closures include:

• Queen’s Park Crescent from Bloor Street West to College Street is closed.
• University Avenue from College Street to Elm Street is closed.
• Wellesley Street West to Queen’s Park is closed.

Police said it will provide updates for when roads are expected to reopen. They noted there is no pedestrian impact.

The last time police closed off a significant portion of Queen’s Park was for the “Freedom Convoy” protests last year.

On Monday, the Ontario Health Coalition held a demonstration at Queen’s Park. The coalition said it would hold another demonstration on Tuesday for those who could not attend due to Yom Kippur.

MPPs returned to Queen’s Park on Monday after a summer break as the Ford government continues to deal with the Greenbelt scandal and minister resignations.

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