UPDATE — The crowdfunding site GoFundMe, in an attempt to disrupt the truckers convoy, has placed on hold the 3.6 Million dollars in donations funding the protest, until the organizers can outline how the funds will be spent, according to a statement to CTV.
A massive group of truckers protesting the COVID-19 vaccine mandate on truck drivers started their march from Vancouver on Sunday.
The Freedom Convoy 2022 left northern British Columbia en route to the Canadian capital city Ottawa in demonstration against the mandate, and truckers from Ontario and eastern Canada are also expected to arrive in Ottawa, according to local media.
Once there, drivers from every province then plan to join under a group called Canada Unity and form a large demonstration against the mandate on Jan. 29.
One truck driver told the Vancouver Sun that he estimates around 500 trucks from B.C. will join the rally before growing to around 5,000 to 10,000 trucks from across the country once in Ottawa.
Ontario Provincial Police East Region reported a convoy from Pembroke to Ottawa on Saturday, and told locals to “please be patient and exercise care.”
The march comes after the federal mandate for truck drivers went into effect on Jan. 15, despite opposition from members of the trucking industry.
Under the mandate, Canadian drivers returning to Canada must be vaccinated in order to avoid entering quarantine. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced similar requirements starting Jan. 22 for non-U.S. nationals crossing into the United States who are not vaccinated, including non-U.S. truck drivers.
Prior to the mandate going into effect, Canadian truck drivers were deemed an essential service meaning they were exempt from such border restrictions.
The convoy raised over $3 million in a week prior to the demonstration via a GoFundMe campaign. The money raised will be used to provide fuel, food, and lodging for the marchers, organizers said.
“Our current government is implementing rules and mandates that are destroying the foundation of our businesses, industries, and livelihoods. Canadians have been integral to the fabric of humanity in many ways that have shaped the planet,” the GoFundMe page reads.
“We are taking our fight to the doorsteps of our Federal Government and demanding that they cease all mandates against its people. Small businesses are being destroyed, homes are being destroyed, and people are being mistreated and denied fundamental necessities to survive. It’s our duty as Canadians to put an end to this mandate,” the page continues.
The vaccine mandate could see 10 to 15 percent, or about 12,000 to 16,000 of truck drivers off the road, the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA), which said it does not support and strongly disapproves of the demonstrations, estimates.
“The Government of Canada and the United States have now made being vaccinated a requirement to cross the border. This regulation is not changing so, as an industry, we must adapt and comply with this mandate,” said CTA President Stephen Laskowski in a statement on Saturday. “The only way to cross the border, in a commercial truck or any other vehicle, is to get vaccinated.”
CTA added that the majority of truckers are vaccinated.
A similar demonstration took place in Emerson, Manitoba, near the U.S.–Canada border on Jan. 17 when a convoy of truckers protested against new COVID-19 vaccination requirements.
HD Editor’s Note:
In solidarity, truck drivers in the United States are also taking part in the protest further ramping up the pressure on both the Canadian and US governments to fold on its unconstitutional mandates.
Tamara Lich, a lead organizer of the event, told Epoch Times that “thousands of us will be parking our trucks on Parliament Hill for as long as it takes until these vaccine mandates are lifted.”
“I don’t think Trudeau realizes this, but both Parliament and the borders are going to come to a screeching halt,” she warned.
Lich went on to explain that such mandates against truckers lack common sense when considering the fact that the vast majority of those in the industry drive alone with minimal public contact.
Maxime Bernier, leader of the PPC in Canada, commended the Truckers’ stand for freedom against vaccine mandates.
“I can’t get over the insanity of our government deliberately and needlessly disrupting supply chains and creating more shortages in stores when there was no problem with truckers for two years,” Bernier asserted, adding that such nonsensical thinking proves “Covidism is a cult.”
When asked if he supports the truckers convoy, Erin O’Toole, the leader of the Conservative party in Canada, deflected the question, instead, stressing the importance that the supply chain not be disrupted and advocating for drivers to get vaccinated.
Meanwhile, as truckers make their way to Ottawa, overpasses across the nation have been filled with Canadians showing support for the convoy’s fight for freedom.
From a Christian perspective, the mandates which have been imposed by governments across that globe, are profoundly immoral. Not only do COVID vaccine mandates create unprecedented division in society, but they also pressure those morally opposed to receiving the vaccine to violate their conscience.
