On January 15, Canada put an end to their truckers’ exemption to the vaccine mandate, the Washington Post reports. In response, Canadian truck drivers organized a rally protesting the mandates.
All truckers are now required to be vaccinated or required testing for truckers coming back into Canada, with a week of quarantine. The U.S. enacted a similar policy a week after, which was then overturned by the Supreme Court.
Canadian truck drivers, who are upset over this matter, converged in Ottawa on Friday and over the weekend as a part of a “Freedom Convoy.” They are gathering on Parliament Hill, which would stop downtown traffic, to protest the vaccine mandate that is in place for cross-border truck drivers, which they claim restricts their liberty and puts their work in jeopardy.
On January 22, the U.S. closed its border to unvaccinated and partially vaccinated Mexican and Canadian truck drivers, according to the Department of Homeland Security. Around 160,000 truckers regularly cross the border and 75% of them are Canadian.
According to transport minister Omar Alghabra, an estimated 90% of truckers are vaccinated and almost 80% of Canada’s population is fully vaccinated, according to John Hopkins University’s latest data.
Ottawa police said that they are bracing for the traffic chaos over the weekend.
“We welcome peaceful demonstrations. That said, public safety is paramount – there will be consequences for persons engaging in criminal conduct, violence and/or activities promoting hate,” the Ottawa police said in a tweet.
The Canadian Trucking Alliance issued a statement where they discouraged protesting of any sort.
“The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) does not support and strongly disapproves of any protests on public roadways, highway, and bridges. CTA believes such actions – especially those that interfere with public safety – are not how disagreements with government policies should be expressed,” the statement read.
A GoFundMe was recently set up to help Canadian truck drivers who are participating in the convoy with expenses such as fuel and food. The site has since raised more than CAD $3 million with over 40,500 people who donated toward the cause. Yesterday, GoFundMe blocked access to those funds stating that they wanted more clarification on how the money would be spent. The donations are now expected to be given to the truckers in support of the convoy after organizers of the Freedom Convoy received their first round of funds.