Freedom Convoy reaches Ottawa, protesting vaccine mandates and more

Even truck drivers admit the Freedom Convoy that rolled into Ottawa on Saturday is no longer just about a cross-border vaccine mandate. It isn't even limited to truckers. Thousands of people flocked to Parliament Hill over the weekend amid the sounds of blaring horns and chants of "freedom!" as trucks clogged Wellington Street.

Protesters were calling for more than an end to the vaccine mandate that applies to border-crossing truck drivers. (Photo: Madalyn Howitt)

"I think enough is enough.

All the freedoms keep getting eroded away. It's not the same Canada I grew up in," said truck driver Andrew Moore of Glencoe, Ont. "It's pretty much made it so we're unable to run a business," he said of the vaccine mandate imposed on border-crossing truck drivers. "This is extremely frustrating being put in this position.

Nobody should have to make a choice like that, either your career or medical experiment. "I gotta draw the line somewhere and this is the hill we're dying on."

Thousands of protesters crowded into downtown Ottawa, protesting public health restrictions. (Photo: Madalyn Howitt)

Fighting health restrictions

While Canada began to enforce its vaccine mandate on Jan.

15, the U.S. version of the rules were introduced Jan.

22. It means that, even if Canada dropped its mandate, unvaccinated Canadian truck drivers would still be unable to travel to the U.S.

Regardless, Moore said he's determined to see Canada's federal government repeal health restrictions. "I just wanted to make this quite clear that this is going to continue to happen until all the mandates and vax passes are scrapped," he said of the protest. Alongside hundreds of Canadian flags and numerous anti-Trudeau messages, many signs that displayed anti-vaccine and anti-health restriction messages were waving through the air at Parliament Hill.

Jenny Levasseur, a bar manager and small business owner in Ottawa, said she came out to show her support for dropping all mandates. "I'm pro choice, do whatever you want with your body," she said, adding that she knows many truck drivers who are vaccinated. "It's not about the vaccine mandates. It's pretty much about their choices at this point."

She said she felt "overwhelmed" at the protest. "The media has been silencing us and now we actually get to have a voice," she said. As of Sunday afternoon, no official numbers of the crowd size had been released, but early estimates suggest about 10,000 people were at Parliament Hill on Saturday, with hundreds of trucks parked throughout downtown and outside the city core.

Hundreds of trucks lined Ottawa streets. (Photo: Madalyn Howitt)

No arrests, but investigations

While the Ottawa Police Services announced no arrests had been made on Saturday, it has launched investigations into multiple incidents, including one where a protester was seen dancing on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and another in which a statue of Terry Fox was defaced with an upside-down Canadian flag and an anti-mandate sign.

Swastikas and Confederate flags were spotted in the crowd Saturday, along with several "Don't Tread on Me" signs and at least one large "Trump 2024" sign. Organizers behind the convoy's £9-million GoFundMe campaign -- with the promise of covering fuel and lodging for protesting truck drivers -- have been linked to separatist groups such as the Maverick Party. The Shepherds of Good Hope, which runs a downtown shelter and soup kitchen, announced that protesters who demanded free meals on Saturday had also harassed staff and volunteers, and a truck blocked access to the facility's ambulance entrance for 12 hours before being towed by police.

The downtown Rideau Centre shopping mall closed early on Saturday and remained closed on Sunday when groups of maskless protesters began wandering through stores.

Calls for "freedom" were repeated throughout the rally. (Photo: Madalyn Howitt)

Gridlock and disruption

Many downtown Ottawa residents expressed frustration on social media with how authorities have handled the convoy. The gridlocked traffic and disruption downtown forced many businesses to close, and noise pollution from honking horns rang throughout Saturday night and into the early hours of Sunday morning. By Sunday, live feeds of Parliament Hill and Wellington Street showed that crowds had dwindled significantly and many vehicles had left the scene, leaving space for trucks that had been unable to enter downtown on Saturday to come closer to Parliament.

Many truckers still on the scene Sunday were steadfast in their beliefs that the protest will pressure governments to repeal health restrictions. Martin Roy drove from Stanstead, Que. He said he arrived early on Saturday but had to park about 5 km away from Parliament Hill due to the gridlock.

He said he joined the convoy for his family. "South of the border they can be unvaccinated, vaccinated, with masks or no masks, and everybody can go to the same place, and that's what we're fighting for," he said. Roy said he wants to see all vaccine and mask mandates disappear in Canada.

"We're not here for the mandates for the truckers at all. We're here for him to stop everything," he said, referring to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "He's gonna have to come out of his hole sometime."

Protesters argued that the public health restrictions infringe on their personal freedoms. (Photo: Madalyn Howitt)

'Freedom for my kids'

Hanns Unger of southern Manitoba, where some of the first convoys emerged in the fight against vaccine mandates, also arrived Saturday and slept in his truck overnight. On Sunday, the truck was still at a standstill about eight blocks from Parliament Hill.

"I have a family at home and it depends on my kids' future. I want freedom for my kids, and where this is headed is beyond the vaccine and restrictions. It's getting to something far worse than we want and that needs to stop," Unger said. "I think people have the right to choose what they want.

I'm not against anybody who does get vaccinated, but they need to respect people who choose not to." He wants to see restrictions on gathering sizes lifted along with all other pandemic health restrictions. Such limits on gathering sizes are set by provinces.

"It's doing a lot of damage, these restrictions, more than the virus. We need to prioritize what is more important," Unger said. "We're not leaving. We're not going nowhere."

The Canadian Trucking Alliance, which previously denounced the convoy, issued a statement on Saturday that reiterated its stance on the cross-border mandate. "The only way to cross the border, in a commercial truck or any other vehicle, is to get vaccinated. As an industry we must adapt and comply with this mandate and the vast majority have," president Stephen Laskowski said.

The alliance estimates close to 90% of truck drivers are vaccinated, based on general vaccination rates.