WARMINGTON: Convoy of truckers against vaccine mandates ready to roll | Toronto Sun
With more than $1.6M in support from an online fundraiser, truckers plan to take their protest across the country to Parliament Hill
Publishing date:
Jan 22, 2022
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10 hours ago
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3 minute read
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Cross-border transport trucks cross paths on the Peace Bridge at the Canada-U.S. border in Buffalo, N.Y., Jan. 10, 2018. Photo by Hyungwon Kang / REUTERS / FILES
A fundraising effort for a convoy of protesting truckers heading to Ottawa from across Canada has topped $1.7 million in donations.
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With more than 22,000 people donating, and thousands of truckers expected to protest vaccine mandates and cross-border supply chain concerns, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau may soon see a groundswell of emotion, anger and concern.
Truckers are planning a massive demonstration on highways across the country, with many set to leave British Columbia Sunday before landing in Ottawa on Jan. 29.
“To our fellow Canadians, the time for political overreach is over,” the Freedom Convoy GoFundMe page says. “Our current government is implementing rules and mandates that are destroying the foundation of our businesses, industries and livelihoods.”
Those organizing the convoy say “small businesses are being destroyed, homes are being destroyed and people are being mistreated and denied fundamental necessities to survive. It’s our duty as Canadians to put an end to these mandates.”
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The truckers’ vaccine mandates that began this month — requiring American and Canadian drivers to be fully vaccinated to cross the border — are a hot-button issue. For a day, with supply chain experts talking of shortages, the Trudeau government backed down but later reversed their position and the original edict stuck.
One of the most emotional moments came this week when trucker Jacob Unger was questioned at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor over not wearing his mask in his cab while talking to authorities and refusing to give his phone number and address to public health authorities and police. At one point a Public Health Agency of Canada inspector is seen on video throwing the tests and paperwork inside his cab.
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Crossing the border legally, this was happening to Unger at the same time as more people crossed unofficially at Roxham Rd. in Quebec, where law enforcement often carry entrants’ bags across into Canada, and at the same time as reports of empty grocery store shelves have started to pop up across the country.
Of course, you wouldn’t know people were still freely entering country illegally at Roxham Rd. if you listened to Trudeau commenting at a news conference on Friday about the family of four that froze to death in Manitoba while trying to cross the border into the U.S. last week.
“This is why we are doing all we can to discourage people from crossing the border in an irregular or illicit manner,” the prime minister said. “We know there are great risks in doing so.”
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On the Unger situation, Public Health Agency Of Canada spokesman Andre Gagnon said they are “aware of the video in question” but “we do not discuss details of specific cases.”
He added “as of Jan. 15, 2022, unvaccinated, or partially vaccinated Canadian truck drivers with right of entry continue to be allowed entry to Canada, but are subject to pre-entry testing, testing on arrival and Day 8, and quarantine requirements” and they “would like to thank industry and truckers, as we have seen extremely high compliance since the new measures were implemented last Saturday.”
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With Canada's supply chain being threatened by the federal government's vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the border, it wasn't hard to find empty shelves at this grocery story in Etobicoke on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. Photo by Joe Warmington / Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network
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With Canada's supply chain being threatened by the federal government's vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the border, it wasn't hard to find empty shelves at this grocery story in Etobicoke on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. Photo by Joe Warmington / Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network
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With Canada's supply chain being threatened by the federal government's vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the border, it wasn't hard to find empty shelves at this grocery story in Etobicoke on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. Photo by Joe Warmington / Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network
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With Canada's supply chain being threatened by the federal government's vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the border, it wasn't hard to find empty shelves at this grocery story in Etobicoke on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. Photo by Joe Warmington / Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network
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With Canada's supply chain being threatened by the federal government's vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the border, it wasn't hard to find empty shelves at this grocery story in Etobicoke on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. Photo by Joe Warmington / Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network
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With Canada's supply chain being threatened by the federal government's vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the border, it wasn't hard to find empty shelves at this grocery story in Etobicoke on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. Photo by Joe Warmington / Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network
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With Canada's supply chain being threatened by the federal government's vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the border, it wasn't hard to find empty shelves at this grocery story in Etobicoke on Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. Photo by Joe Warmington / Toronto Sun/Postmedia Network
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As I have written in a previous column , many independent truckers warned low product supply could become a real problem.
The Prime Minister’s Office is skeptical. Former Trudeau spokesman Alex Wellstead cheekily tweeted: “just terrible. This is the third grocery store I’ve been to this week that’s been empty. Where are the pumpkins?”
This has emboldened protesters.
“We are taking our fight to the doorsteps of our federal government and demanding that they cease all mandates,” the convoy’s organizers said
https://twitter.com/AlexWellstead/status/1484613365448204297
The federal and provincial governments, however, seem reluctant to do so and continue pushing Canadians for a third vaccine dose as Omicron infections spike.
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Trudeau has said the truckers’ mandatory vaccine plan has been in place since November. Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra doubled down on Friday.
“Tomorrow, the United States vaccine mandate on freight drivers will come into effect,” he said. “Now both countries will have rules prohibiting unvaccinated truckers from crossing the border.”
The Canadian Trucking Alliance indicated last week it “strongly disapproves of any protests on public roadways, highways and bridges” while saying “members of the trucking industry who want to publicly express displeasure over government policies can choose to hold an organized, lawful event on Parliament Hill” but “not disrupt the travelling public.”
Rather than head to a showdown, it would be better for both sides to lower the temperature, sit down and look for reasonable compromise. Is forcing vaccine compliance worth risking Canada’s food supply chain?
Whatever your view, there is a protest about to roll with thousands of trucks and more than $1.7 million raised to help them do it.
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