The Freedom Convoy
As of Saturday morning, the ‘Freedom Convoy’ campaign has amassed more than $8 million. At the heart of this protest is an opposition to a vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers. On January 15, the federal government required truckers to be fully vaccinated to cross the Canadian border. Previously, this category of travellers was offered an exemption status. Back in November when the mandates were first announced, CTA* President Stephen Laskowski, spoke about the potential issues that could arise,
“In light of worldwide supply chain disruptions and delays, it’s unclear how the supply chain and the trucking industry, in particular, can withstand further turmoil and maintain the service levels required to deliver critical products Canadians and Americans need.”
More recently, Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra reassured the public that the government is not “sitting idle in responding to the supply chain issue.” He is expected to hold a meeting next week with key supply chain stakeholders.
Accurate figures regarding the size of the convoy are hard to estimate, but local authorities in Ottawa have had to coordinate with protest organizers ahead of their arrival. The city has already cautioned residents “to avoid unnecessary travel, especially in the downtown core,” as major delays are expected.
This movement has evidently grown into something much larger than the January 15 mandate. Many Canadians have found a space to express their overall grievances against the various pandemic measures implemented by the Liberal government. Initially, Erin O’Toole refused to explicitly express his support for the convoy, but his tune was much different on Thursday,
“I will always fight for the trucker, the essential worker, the Canadian who wants to work; and so will any member of the Conservative caucus. The question is why would Prime Minister Trudeau not stand up for working people.” O’Toole added, “I will be meeting with truckers to hear their concerns, to talk about the proposals I brought 3 weeks ago, to try and make sure we can keep grocery store shelves full, keep people working and work together.”
Contrary to his official opposition, Trudeau has remained critical of the convoy, “Its important to underlie that close to 90 percent of truckers in this country are vaccinated, like close to 90 percent of Canadians – We know that the way through this pandemic is by getting everyone vaccinated – The small fringe minority of people who are on their way to Ottawa, who are holding unacceptable views, do not represent the views of Canadians who have been there for each other.”
Unexpectedly thrust into this conversation was NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh. CBC reported that his brother-in-law had donated $13,000 to the ‘Freedom Convoy’ before asking for it to be returned due to a misunderstanding on how the funds would be used. The GoFundMe page states that the money raised will be used to help truckers cover the cost of their journey. In response to this situation, Jagmeet Singh asserted “I unequivocally disagree with him about this donation and told him so. I am against this convoy and against the dangerous and divisive rhetoric we’re seeing coming from it.”
Ultimately, it is hard to determine what will be accomplished in Ottawa. Currently, the House of Commons is not in session. Prime Minister Trudeau will most likely not reverse course and even if he did, the United States also has a vaccine mandate in place. In terms of legislation, the prospects are grim. Perhaps the truckers’ greatest impact is that they have unified a group of Canadians who otherwise thought they were alone; the implication of this remains to be seen.
