OTTAWA—The center of Canada’s capital city, Ottawa, was flooded by thousands of protesters on Feb. 12 demanding an end to COVID-19 mandates and restrictions. Many more joined the ongoing trucker-led protest with the arrival of the weekend. Numbers grew from the night of Feb. 11 into the next morning as supporters seemingly poured into the city. Greater masses of people were particularly noticeable on Parliament Hill and then later on the streets, where they spilled out from the immediate vicinity of the truck blockade. Around 10 a.m., several thousand protesters were marshaled into groups to form the word “freedom.” Then, they waved their red and white maple leaf flags and sang the national anthem “O Canada” with passion and rousing volume. On finishing, they burst into loud cheering and the maple leaves waved again. The effort helped rouse the spirits of the protesters on what was a very cold winter’s day, as the …