What started as a protest in the national’s capital Saturday for truckers to show their disapproval of the federal government’s vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the border, became a lightning rod for others to show up on Parliament Hill and protest against broader public health orders. Police say they will continue to have a presence in Ottawa’s downtown Sunday after thousands gathered Saturday, many of who where waving flags and holding signs. Two bridges connecting Ottawa to Gatineau are said to be closed to vehicles Sunday. Yesterday (sat), many businesses in Ottawa’s downtown closed their doors as people were filtering in, many of who were maskless. With the large number of semis and trucks in the downtown area yesterday, it was said there was no more room for vehicles in Ottawa’s downtown as vehicles had to be directed away from the capital’s core. The crowd started to disperse towards the evening when temperatures began to drop, although a number of protestors did remain in the downtown well into the night.
Ottawa media is reporting Sunday morning that the sounds of truck horns can be heard for a second straight morning as a smaller group of protestors make their way back to Parliament Hill. On Saturday, images on social media showed the Terry Fox statue had signs and flags hanging on it. Ottawa’s mayor, Jim Watson tweeted saying that he ordered staff to remove the objects around the statue, although it appeared as the day went on, more signs and flags were placed on the statue. A video showed at least one person dancing on the Tomb of the Unknown Solider at the National War Memorial. Anita Anand, Canada’s Minister of Defence tweeted saying “The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and National War Memorial are sacred sites for our country. I urge all Canadians to treat them with solemnity, out of respect for those who have fought and died for Canada. The behaviour we’re seeing today is beyond reprehensible.”
Here in Saskatchewan, approximately 1,000 people gathered outside of the Legislative Building in Regina Saturday for a rally in support of the truck protests in Ottawa. Premier Scott Moe issued a statement Saturday saying that he and the provincial government stand by the truckers in their call to have the federal government remove the vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the international border. Moe says because vaccinations are not reducing transmission, the current mandate makes “no sense” given that am unvaccinated trucker doesn’t pose any greater risk of transmission than a trucker with his or her shots. Moe pledged that’s reason Saskatchewan will be dropping its proof of vaccination policy in the “no-too-distant future.”
On Saturday afternoon, Saskatchewan NDP Leader Ryan Meili posted a video to his Facebook page stating that vaccines do slow the spread of COVID-19 transmission. “While vaccines are less effective against Omicron, if you’re vaccinated, you’re still less likely to get infected or transmit the virus to someone else if you do catch COVID. Not to mention being far, far less likely to wind up in hospital or die from COVID-19.”
Ottawa Police say they’re preparing for a crowd of the same size Sunday.
(Photo from Twitter)
