Truckers headed to Ottawa for Vaccine Mandate Showdown
Convoy of at least 1600 drivers opposed to mandates vow to advance on capital
Truckers opposed to federal Covid 19 vaccine mandates are preparing to converge on Ottawa in a protest expected to draw a convoy of at least 1600 rigs, according to organizers.
Tamara Lich, working with trucker Chris Barber from Swift Current Saskatchewan, started a fundraising campaign on social media that raised several hundred thousand dollars within days of its ‘GoFundMe’ page launch.
“We have a massive team behind us now. We are going to roll across Canada. They are going to go to Parliament Hill and sit there and protest, peacefully of course until these mandates are lifted,” said Ms. Lich, an oil and gas worker from Medicine Hat Alberta.
The mandates, which came into effect January 15th, require unvaccinated Canadian truckers to quarantine and take a COVID-19 test when they re-enter Canada from the U.S.
The new rules also require US truckers to present proof of vaccination in order to cross the border. Many of them continue to decline the shots rather than gain access to Canadian destinations.
This has cut US trucking capacity in half according to the American Trucking Association which estimates that anywhere from 50 to 60 percent of US truck drivers are fully vaccinated.
An estimated 10 percent of Canadian truckers have declined the Covid jabs so far.
Ms. Lich says the truckers mounting the challenge are from Vancouver to the Maritimes and include vaccinated and unvaccinated drivers.
“A lot of these drivers do cross the border on a regular basis. My parents run a business and they cross the border all the time. As of Saturday (January 15th), they can’t do that. This is going to seriously impact our supply chain, groceries, goods, necessities, but it’s also impacting their livelihoods.”
Besides undermining the trucking industry, the new vaccine mandates for drivers are likely to increase the cost of produce. George Pitsikoulis; CEO of Canadawide Fruits, told Bloomberg News the cost of transporting fruit from California and Arizona to Canada has climbed 25 percent.
Demonstrators with the ‘Freedom Convoy’ will be leaving Vancouver for Ottawa January 23rd. They will be joined by a group from Calgary and will add drivers merging on the Trans-Canada highway heading east.
They expect to arrive in Ottawa on January 28th and say they’ll stay until the mandates are lifted.
Wow... this is amazing. How do we stay up to date on their progress. I'd like to be on a bridge somewhere near Toronto when they drive through for support.
Good news and reporting Marc! We need more news like this!