Canada’s Freedom Convoy

Insight into a Canadian Controversy

In the past, vaccine mandates for COVID 19 have been a large controversy in both Canada and the United States, but never have we seen such an outcry. Protests broke out after the mandate required truckers who cross the border to be vaccinated. Beginning in Ontario the protests did not take long to spread to the opposing coast of British Columbia.

The biggest protest, in Winsor Ontario, consisted of 100 vehicles that were parked along a 2 km stretch of road for a week before police began to arrest people who were blocking the bridge. Many of the cars consisted of Canadian flags, anti-vaccine slogans and anti-Trudeau slogans. The slogans included, “My body my choice”, “Freedom! We Stand with the Truckers” and “F**k Treaudau”.

The protests in greater Vancouver were a similar situation. The demonstrators blocked traffic on the Trans-Canada Highway near Burnaby. One man from Abbotsford shared his experience.

“A protestor dropped their sign on my car, and I crashed into the car in front of me. Since we were travelling so fast the cars behind mine couldn’t stop so they also crashed. It created a whole backlog of traffic and I couldn’t get out for hours and my truck windshield was completely gone.”

-Darell Lynn (concerned citizen)

In light of the blockade, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, which granted Trudeau sweeping power for 30 days, specifically the prohibition of public assembly, travel and use of specific property. He allowed banks the freedom to freeze personal accounts of those linked to the protests. Trudeau also promised police more tools to deal with the protestors. Critics of Trudeau’s actions have compared the situation to the one in New Delhi when protestors blocked major highways for a year and Trudeau voiced support. He said, “Canada will always be there to defend the right to peaceful protest”.

After an increase in regulations and heavy police presence particularly in downtown Ottawa, the protests calmed. Overall, what we must take from this is that sometimes a cause can be benign but things can get out of hand, and we must remind ourselves of the importance of peace in Canadian Society.