The convoy began as a protest against the mandatory vaccination of truckers traveling between Canada and the United States. It departed from British Columbia (on the west coast) and gradually grew on the way to the capital (in the east). In the meantime, people have joined who are also angry about other corona measures, people who want Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to resign, and people who simply hate the government.
Trucks with flags
Authorities expect some 2,700 drivers to join parliament, but social media say the convoy is much larger, with even more people expected to join this weekend. Meanwhile, there are hundreds of trucks, pick-ups, tractors and RVs in the city – most of them with all kinds of flags and anti-vaccination signs. Some have called for demonstrations to take place outside of parliament as well as outside the homes of politicians, and others have compared this protest to the storming of the Capitol in Washington by Trump supporters on January 6 last year.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Trudeau lashed out at the participants of the ‘freedom convoy’, as the participants have christened the procession. “The fringe minority heading for Ottawa, holding and expressing unacceptable opinions, is not representative of what Canadians think,” Trudeau said on Wednesday of the drivers’ resistance. “What we are hearing from some of the people involved in this convoy is completely unacceptable.”
The organizers of the convoy say they are not only against the vaccination obligation of drivers, but also that of, for example, officials, which the Trudeau government has decided. “This is about your rights and your freedom,” said Tamara Lich, one of the organizers. Lich emphasizes that no violence should be used, and has called on Facebook to report those who do to the police.