Trucker-led protesters occupying the Canadian capital Ottawa showed no sign of backing down Tuesday, despite a newly invoked state of emergency granting the law enforcement agency wide new powers to end the weeks-long protest over COVID-19 rules.

A day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, the truckers appeared undeterred – if anything hardening their stance to move their big rigs into positions tougher to dislodge, with signs that read: "Hold the line."

Facing intense criticism over the failure to dislodge the protesters, Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly abruptly resigned on Tuesday.

The so-called "Freedom Convoy" started with truckers protesting against mandatory COVID-19 vaccines to cross the U.S. border, but its demands have since grown to include an end to all pandemic health rules.

The truckers have found support among conservatives and vaccine mandate opponents across the world, even as COVID-19 measures are being rolled back in many places.

In Paris, over the weekend, police fired tear gas and issued hundreds of fines in an effort to break up convoys coming from across France.

The Netherlands, Switzerland and Austria have also seen copycat movements, and Belgian authorities said Monday they had intercepted 30 vehicles as police scrambled to stop a convoy of trucks.

Some U.S. truckers are reported to be mulling a protest in March. 

A hack has revealed over 90,000 names, email addresses and locations of people who donated to the Canadian trucker convoy. More than half of the donors were from the U.S., The Guardian reported, citing the hacked records.

About a dozen donors reportedly used .gov email addresses associated with the U.S. Dept. of Justice, Homeland Security, NASA and other government agencies, indicating they may be U.S. government employees. At least one donor used a Canadian government email address, according to The Guardian.

Officials said the historic Emergencies Act would be used to strengthen police powers to arrest protesters, seize their trucks and freeze their bank accounts.

Justice Minister David Lametti told reporters on Tuesday, "We're trying to break the financing, particularly foreign financing" of the convoy and its use of "heavy rigs to disrupt the Canadian economy and put people in a state of insecurity."

(With input from agencies)