Honking convoy against compulsory vaccination gets acclaim, far beyond Canada

Wrapped in warm winter coats and waving Canadian flags, dozens of people stand on a highway overpass in the icy Ontario countryside. Despite a temperature of around -20 degrees Celsius, Kathy Seymour wants to be there to show her support for a convoy of trucks from across the country heading to the capital Ottawa for a major protest against a mandatory vaccination for truckers.

“This isn’t about the vaccine, this is about freedom,” said Seymour, who stands at the edge of the viaduct with a banner saying ‘Thank you truckers!!! A vaccination requirement “is contrary to what it means to be Canadian,” adds Samantha Jones, a younger supporter: “Freedom and respect for differences between people. That breaks Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.”

Liberal Prime Minister Trudeau is the target of the internationally high-profile truckers’ protest, which began more than a week ago in the west coast province of British Columbia and has since quickly grown into a nationwide protest movement against ongoing corona restrictions. Except with the Canadian maple leaf Protesters along the thousands of kilometers route often wave flags with “F*ck Trudeau” – with a maple leaf in place of the letter ‘u’ in the swear word. They demand his resignation.

“We’re losing our freedoms, and the vaccine is being used to scare everyone and put everyone in line,” said Tim Peddie of Clayton, Ontario, who stands with both flags on another flyover. lawsuit that Canadians fought for during the liberation of the Netherlands at the end of World War II. “We are being imposed a communist agenda.”

‘Freedom Convoy’

The truckers’ protest has not only struck a chord among supporters in Canada; also outside the country the ‘Freedom Convoy 2022’ can count on passionate support in some circles. Over the past week, the movement has grown into an unexpected vanguard of the antivax movement through social media. Donald Trump Jr., son of the American former president, expressed his support, as did Elon Musk, CEO of the American producer of electric cars Tesla. “Canadian Truckers rule,” he wrote in a widely shared message on Twitter.

Canadian truckers rule

Elon Musk CEO Tesla

Influential American media personalities such as podcast creator Joe Rogan and Fox host Sean Hannity expressed their admiration for “50,000 trucks” they believe were heading to Ottawa to put Trudeau, a progressive figurehead on the global stage who is actively pursuing an active corona policy. That number was “not realistic,” said James Menzies, editor-in-chief of the trade magazine Today’s Trucking, against the CBC.

At the viaducts, part-convoys of hundreds of vehicles pass to applause and cheers, including trucks and other cars, honking loudly and waving flags. In total, an estimated 2,700 vehicles arrived in Ottawa this weekend, according to Canadian authorities.

A long queue of vehicles moves at a walking pace through the center of the Canadian capital to deafening horns. “I’m here for my children,” shouts John Lammers, a driver of Dutch background in a huge white truck, from his cab, as he drives towards the Canadian parliament in a procession. “If they force people, and people lose their jobs, something is wrong. That is not in the constitution.”

We want to let the country know that we want our jobs and our freedoms back

Derek Androusick Canadian trucker

Canadian authorities are concerned about possible violence at the protest, as the movement is supported by extremist elements and conspiracy theorists. Some supporters have expressed threats against Trudeau on social media, and a deleted video expressed hope that the rally in the capital would turn into a Canadian “January 6.” Trudeau and his family are spending the weekend outside of Ottawa. Police have prepared for a “mass-scale demonstration,” said Chief Constable Peter Sloly of the Canadian capital. However, there were no reports of violence or vandalism on Saturday.

peaceful protest

As far as trucker Derek Androusick is concerned, violence is out of the question. “It’s a peaceful protest,” says the 46-year-old driver with sunglasses and a long beard in the cab of his truck – a shiny black tractor with silver maple leaves, which he is carrying near the Canadian parliament. “We want to let the country know that we want our jobs and our freedoms back.”

Androusick emphasizes what started the truckers’ protest a week ago: dissatisfaction with a vaccination obligation for truck drivers to cross the border between Canada and the United States. That duty, introduced by both countries this month, means truckers who refuse to be vaccinated against Covid-19 will no longer be able to work. Androusick is one of them; he doesn’t want to be vaccinated because of health problems that make it risky, he says.

That is why the trucker, who normally crosses the border two to three times a week with loads of glass, is now out of work. “I have a family to take care of, a wife and three children. I have three trucks and a house, and I don’t know how to pay for all of them,” he says. “Two years ago, truckers were the heroes of the pandemic, essential workers according to the government. We continued to fill the shelves in supermarkets. Now I am unemployed.”

Still, he does not want the vaccine, and has pinned his hopes on abolishing the vaccination requirement – not only by Canada, but also by the American side. “I want the freedom to choose,” says Androusick. “I don’t want to be forced to take a vaccine that isn’t working right now.” He is pleased with the “global, inspiring support.”

Unacceptable views

However, it is far from universal; many Canadians express disgust at the protest. The industry association of truck drivers has distanced itself from the convoy. More than 80 percent of drivers are vaccinated, according to the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA). The CTA supports the vaccination requirement, denying that it leads to empty supermarket shelves, as supporters say.

Also read: Canadians don’t just give Trudeau a corona bonus

Prime Minister Trudeau has rejected the movement around the convoy as a minor fringe minority (marginal minority) with ‘unacceptable views’ not shared by the wider population. Vaccination is widely supported in Canada, where 85 percent of the population has been vaccinated at least once against Covid-19, and 79 percent has been fully vaccinated. Trudeau’s estimate is that a large majority of the population supports his active vaccination policy, which also includes a vaccination obligation for federal government employees. Supporters of the convoy now use ‘fringe minority’ as a nickname.

Life in the US already ‘much more normal’

Trucker Greg Melchior sits in the cab of a red truck near Parliament. As a driver who drives weekly back and forth between Canada and the US with agricultural materials, he sees that life south of the border is “much more normal” than in Canada. “There they stand up for what they believe in, and they say ‘enough is enough’,” he says, referring to greater resistance to corona restrictions. “Canada is too nice: if the government says you have to wear a mask, people will do it.”

Melchior, 43, has not been vaccinated. “I believe in the natural defense system,” he says. He is currently unemployed. If the vaccination obligation to cross the border is not removed, he will probably be vaccinated in February. “Hopefully it will change before then.”

Although the government does not seem to want to remove the vaccination requirement, it is unclear how long the truckers will continue with their action. Some have said they do not want to leave Ottawa until their demands are met.