OTTAWA, Ontario — This city is in the middle of the country. He looked out the window of his truck on Saturday as a sea of protesters and pedestrian vehicles came to Canada’s parliament to protest a wide range of issues, including the COVID-19 vaccine mandates that have been in place since 2010.
Mueller, an owner-operator who lives in Alberta, decided to get here before the bigger convoys that were slowly making their way into the small town’s downtown area. As of early Saturday afternoon, it looked like a lot of trucks had made their way to the area called Parliament Hill. Passenger cars were far outnumbered by trucks.
“Thousands will come,” he said, as people knocked on his window to offer things like toilet paper, water, and snacks.
So far, the protest has been peaceful, but a few incidents have been called out by the trucking industry. Some protesters were seen with flags that had swastikas on them. Others danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and a Canadian flag that was upside down was placed on a statue of athlete and activist Terry Fox.
I don’t think it is truck drivers who are doing this, said Shelley Walker, CEO of the Women’s Trucking Federation of Canada. It is disgusting, but I don’t think they are doing it.
Freedom Convoy: Truckers from both sides of the border wanted to get rid of COVID-19 mandates, but it has since become a rallying point for Canadians who don’t like many COVID-19 restrictions and the Trudeau government as a whole.
There are a lot of things that aren’t right in Canada, so this is a good chance for him.
Mueller, who hasn’t been vaccinated, hasn’t been able to move freight across the U.S.-Canada border since both countries made it a requirement to get vaccines. He doesn’t believe that Canadian health officials are right when they say that the COVID vaccines are safe and protect against severe illness and death.
Protesters in the trucking industry don’t like Convoy.
Even though the convoy has gotten a lot of attention, there are some people in the Canadian trucking industry who don’t like it. This includes popular podcast hosts Joe Rogan and President Trump.
“Next-generation and cultural diversity” were the themes of Speedy Transport’s “counter convoy” on Saturday. The largest industry group in Canada says that most drivers in the country have been vaccinated, and they don’t want to stop the protest.
It looks like a lot of these protesters don’t work for the trucking industry and don’t have a problem with cross-border vaccine requirements. CTA President Steve Laskowski said that in a statement on Saturday.
We want the Canadian public to know that many of the people you see and hear in the news about these protests don’t work for or own a trucking company.
A lot of truckers in the convoy, many of them owner-operators, have slammed the CTA for its stance on the convoy. Truckers who have been vaccinated and those who haven’t been vaccinated are in front of parliament. People who only drive domestically are also there.
What pushed Andrew Broe, the owner of a freight company in Ontario, to come to the protest was the choice to fight for freedom for everyone.
Salesman Ahmed Meikllach says the cause of truckers has enraged Canadians who don’t like how the government is trying to fight COVID-19, which is a law that was passed last year.
People in the convoy of trucks finally found a leader, Meikllach said. “We finally found a leader to follow” “That’s what was missing from the whole thing.”
Convoy: It’s not clear how long the convoy will stay in Ottawa before it leaves. Mueller said he won’t leave until border vaccine requirements are dropped and Canada’s provinces stop making people wear masks.
For as long as it takes, he said.
