XPost: can.politics, alt.health.virus.cure.alternatives, sac.politics
XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns

#karenconvoy trends on twitter as whiners and complainers drive to ottawa
to have a word with management despite how 90% of truckers are vaccinated
and the leaders of the protest were exposed for their white supremacist
views and are not even truckers. Most mandates are by Provinces, not the Federal government, so it's just a big Trudeau hate fest too.


Updates: Officials condemn ‘desecration’ of monuments, hateful signs on
display at trucker convoy protest

Truckers and supporters demonstrate against COVID-19 vaccine mandates in
Ottawa Saturday. Find the latest updates here
Globe Staff and Wire Services
Published January 29, 2022
Updated Yesterday

Supporters of a cross-country truck convoy protesting measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 such as vaccine mandates walk near Parliament Hill in
Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
1458 Comments
Listen to article

A convoy of vehicles converged on Ottawa on Saturday in a demonstration
that was initially pitched as a protest against vaccine mandates for truck drivers, but that has snowballed into a broader movement against pandemic- related measures, including mask mandates and lockdowns.

Police on Saturday used plows to block off a perimeter to vehicle traffic around Parliament Hill as lines of trucks that arrived the day before
stayed parked on Wellington Street.

The Canadian Anti-Hate Network said the convoy leaders have a history of hateful speech and Canadians should be considering their alignment with
them.

Thousands of people wove their way through the trucks and onto Parliament
Hill, waving flags, playing music and creating a racket with horns, drums, tambourines, and other instruments.

The crowd on the lawn in front of the Centre Block swelled in size since earlier this morning, with people mostly shoulder to shoulder as movement slowed.

Among the people on the Hill were parents with their kids, groups of
friends, and elderly or disabled people using canes. People carried signs
with aggressive and obscenity-laced rhetoric directed mostly at Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau.

As of Saturday afternoon, the protests were peaceful and there was a
largely party-like atmosphere on Parliament Hill, with some people handing
out cookies and coffee and others drinking beer and smoking marijuana.

Thousands of supporters arrive at Parliament Hill for the Freedom
Truck Convoy to protest against Covid-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions
in Ottawa on Saturday,LARS HAGBERG/AFP/Getty Images
1 of 18

Protestors stand on a trailer carrying logs as part of the convoy protesting vaccine mandates for cross-border truck drivers in
Ottawa.PATRICK DOYLE/Reuters
2 of 18

Supporters arrive at Parliament Hill for the Freedom Truck Convoy to protest against Covid-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions in Ottawa.LARS HAGBERG/AFP/Getty Images
3 of 18

Supporters wave flags on an overpass in Kanata, Ont., as a trucker
convoy makes its way to Parliament Hill in Ottawa to protest against
vaccine mandates for truckersFrank Gunn/The Canadian Press
4 of 18

Trucks sit parked on Wellington Street near the Parliament Buildings
in Ottawa as truckers and their supporters take part in a convoy to
protest vaccine mandates.PATRICK DOYLE/Reuters
5 of 18

People participate in a cross-country truck convoy protesting vaccine mandates at Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Saturday.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
6 of 18

Hundreds of truckers arrived in Ottawa on Saturday as part of a self- titled "Freedom Convoy" to protest vaccine mandates required to cross the
US border.LARS HAGBERG/AFP/Getty Images
7 of 18

A counter protester holds a sign promoting vaccines as others wave
flags during a rally against COVID-19 restrictions on Parliament
Hill.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
8 of 18

People wave from their sunroof during a rally against COVID-19
restrictions on Wellington Street in Ottawa.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
9 of 18

People make their way down Wellington Street to front of Parliament
Hill in Ottawa during a rally against COVID-19 restrictions.Justin
Tang/The Canadian Press
10 of 18

Hundreds of truckers and their supporters protest vaccine mandates
required to cross the US border in Ottawa on Saturday as part of a self-
titled "Freedom Convoy"LARS HAGBERG/AFP/Getty Images
11 of 18

Counter protestors stand across from Parliament Hill as truckers take
part in a convoy to protest vaccine mandates for cross-border truck
drivers in Ottawa.PATRICK DOYLE/Reuters
12 of 18

People and vehicles fill Wellington Street near Parliament Hill in
Ottawa during a rally against COVID-19 restrictions.Justin Tang/The
Canadian Press
13 of 18

A person holds a sign for the "Freedom Convoy" as supporters rally
against COVID-19 restrictions on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
14 of 18

People stand and wave flags on top of a logging truck parked on
Wellington Street near Parliament Hill during a rally against COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
15 of 18

Protesters participating in a cross-country truck convoy protesting
vaccine mandates walk between trucks parked near Parliament Hill in Ottawa
on Saturday.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
16 of 18

People look down on trucks parked on Wellington Street during a rally against COVID-19 restrictions in downtown Ottawa.Justin Tang/The Canadian
Press
17 of 18

Supporters of the Freedom Convoy protest Covid-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions in front of Parliament Hill on Saturday.LARS
HAGBERG/AFP/Getty Images
18 of 18

Thousands of supporters arrive at Parliament Hill for the Freedom Truck
Convoy to protest against Covid-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions in
Ottawa on Saturday,LARS HAGBERG/AFP/Getty Images
1 of 18
The latest developments:

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole spoke out in support of protesters’
right to demonstrate peacefully, but condemned those who parked their cars
on the National War Memorial.
Former U.S. president Donald Trump gave a shoutout to the convoy
protesters at one of his trademark rallies in Texas, saying “we are with
them all the way.”
Politicians, including Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner, are condemning Nazi imagery displayed at the protest in Ottawa.
The mayor of Terry Fox’s hometown in British Columbia is calling for
the immediate removal of protest signs and materials from his statue in
Ottawa.
The Canadian Anti-Hate Network says Canadians should be considering
their alignment with convoy leaders who have a history of hateful speech.
An industry group says many people converging on Ottawa are not
connected to the trucking industry and do not represent truckers when they
make remarks.
Organizers of an in-person candlelight vigil in Ottawa to mark the anniversary of the Quebec City mosque shooting cancelled the event, citing
a risk of violence from some people associated with the convoy.

11:20 p.m.

Conservative Michael Cooper is distancing himself from a Parliament Hill demonstrator who was flying a Canadian flag with a swastika drawn on it
behind the Alberta MP during a television interview.

Cooper says he didn’t know someone “with whom I’m not associated” was
flying the Nazi symbol “some distance behind my back” as he spoke to the
CBC.

He says he condemns Nazism, calling it “the purest form of evil.”

Story continues below advertisement

Cooper also says whoever flew the flag with the symbol “should be
eternally ashamed,” adding that the person didn’t represent those at the protest who acted responsibly, whom Cooper supports.

The statement comes after the mayors of the two towns overlapping his
Alberta riding, Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and St. Albert Mayor Cathy
Heron, called on Cooper to apologize for “his behavior and lack of
judgment.”

Pictures and video of Nazi imagery being displayed at the truckers’
protest spurred swift condemnations from across the political spectrum, including from some of Cooper’s caucus colleagues.

Fellow Alberta Conservative Damien Kurek was also at the protest.

In a tweet, he, too, condemns “any signs of hate, antisemitism, or
disrespect” and writes that many protesters he spoke with believed those
signs “are disgraceful and don’t represent those involved.”

- The Canadian Press

Story continues below advertisement
11:04 p.m.

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole, who served in the Canadian Armed Forces,
also spoke out.

“I support the right to peacefully protest but that should not be confused
with blatant disrespect for the men and women who have served, inspired,
and protected our country,” he tweeted. “The individuals desecrating these memorials should be ashamed and their behaviour undermines the brave
Canadians who have sacrificed for our country.”

- The Canadian Press
9:50 p.m. ET

Former U.S. president Donald Trump, speaking Saturday in Texas at one of
his trademark rallies, shouted out the protests briefly as he urged the
crowd to reject vaccine mandates in all their forms.

In “resisting bravely” what he called “lawless” mandates, truckers in
Canada “are doing more to defend American freedom than our own leaders, by far,” Trump said.

“We are with them all the way. They have really shown something.”

Story continues below advertisement

- The Canadian Press
8:52 p.m. ET

Politicians are condemning Nazi imagery displayed at a protest against
vaccine mandates and COVID-19 measures in Ottawa.

Photos being circulated online show protesters waving the the Nazi flag
and a Canadian flag with a swastika drawn on it.

Conservative member of Parliament Michelle Rempel Garner says that
symbolism is a “banner for evil, murder, unjustness” and the genocide of millions of Jews.

She says the Nazi flag should never be flown in Canada.

Marty Morantz, another Conservative legislator, says the voices of people espousing such hate “must always be condemned - never defended or
explained away.”

- The Canadian Press
8:10 p.m. ET

Further south at the U.S. border in Coutts, Alta., RCMP said several
hundred, possibly up to 1,000 vehicles, took part in another protest, eventually blocking Highway 4 to the U.S. border crossing in both
directions.

Cpl. Curtis Peters, an RCMP spokesman, said there was no access to the
border on the Canadian side and that U.S. officials were turning traffic
around on the other side.

He said no arrests had been made by late Saturday afternoon, but that
Coutts itself was blocked off in case emergency vehicles needed to get in.

“We’re engaging in dialogue with them and encouraging them to rethink
that,” Peters said from Coutts late Saturday afternoon.

- The Canadian Press

Story continues below advertisement
3:36 p.m. ET

In the morning, vehicles were still moving through some streets in the downtown, but by 2:30 on Saturday, the City of Ottawa said all streets in
the downtown core were “closed due to gridlock.”

“There is no more room for vehicles, other than first responders,” read an update from the city posted to Twitter.

Police said in a statement that vehicles are being redirected away from
the core even as more trucks are trying to make their way downtown.

The Ontario Provincial Police, who are responsible for Highway 417, the
main east-west artery through Ottawa, told drivers to avoid the westbound
lanes because of traffic backlogs linked to the demonstration.

The sheer size of the protest, which attracted thousands to Ottawa, led
local police to ask for backup from nearby forces.

Ottawa police said they have officers from forces in Ontario, including Toronto, Durham Region and London, as well as officers from the OPP and
RCMP.

To the west of Ottawa’s downtown, city officials said the demonstrations
shut down a nine-kilometre stretch of the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway.

– Marieke Walsh, with a report from The Canadian Press
3:25 p.m. ET

The mayor of Terry Fox’s hometown is speaking out after images surfaced of protesters putting an upside-down Canadian flag and protest sign on the national hero’s statue in Ottawa.

Brad West, Mayor of Port Coquitlam, B.C., said Mr. Fox was a unifier and
the protest materials should be removed immediately.

“Whatever your cause, you don’t get to appropriate his legacy and you
don’t touch his statue. Ever. This should be removed immediately,” said
Mr. West in a tweet.

Mr. Fox became a household name during his Marathon of Hope in 1981, where
he raised money and awareness for cancer research by attempting to run
across the country after having a leg amputated due to cancer. He died
partway through the endeavour.

Story continues below advertisement

– Salmaan Farooqui
2:41 p.m. ET

Protesters on the Hill who spoke with Globe reporters said they were
opposed to vaccine and mask mandates, but while some wanted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau booted from government, others just wanted the federal and provincial restrictions reversed.

“He needs to get out,” Vanessa Lemire of Témiscaming, Que., said. “He
works for himself; he doesn’t work for the people.”

Ms. Lemire said her complaints don’t just rest with the federal government
but also with Premier Francois Legault’s policies in Quebec. “Quebeckers
are starting to rise up,” she said.

She also repeated conspiracy theories, calling the pandemic a lie and
saying the last federal election was rigged.

Tyler Armstrong, a flatbed truck driver from Hamilton, Ont., stood in
front of his truck parked on Wellington St. as horns blared around him.

Mr. Armstrong, 25, said he arrived in Ottawa on Friday and that he is here “fighting for freedom” and to an end to mandates across Canada. Mr.
Armstrong said because he is not vaccinated, he can no longer work.

“You can’t cross the border, you can’t go to a restaurant. It’s not
right,” he said.

He said he supports the call for the government to be replaced, saying the crowd in Ottawa shows that the Liberal government is doing something
wrong.

“I feel very proud to be Canadian at this moment just because of the
amount of people that have come out, so, it’s awesome.” He said he chose
not to be vaccinated because “it’s forced.”

“I just don’t think anything should be forced. It’s not right.”

Nearby, Peter Ravensbergen, 40, from Smithville, Ont., sat in his truck
with his two oldest boys who are 12 and 14. Mr. Ravensbergen said they
arrived on Friday.

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“I am here to represent our farm, to basically stand up for freedom, stand
up for the freedom to choose, stand up for the freedom to be able to work
in this country,” he said from his truck window.

Mr. Ravensbergen said they farm and truck their own goods: flowers and
plants. He said he is not vaccinated because he does not trust the
vaccine, but added that many at the protest are vaccinated, but they are fighting for the “freedom to have choice.”

He said the vaccine mandate has not affected his job because he works in Ontario, but he came to the protest to support others in the trucking community.

“Our goal is just to raise awareness that we are not a fringe group of
(the) minority here. This is a huge group of people that want to fight for freedom in Canada,” he said.

Earlier in the week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the
protesters as a “fringe minority.” Mr. Ravensbergen said that description
shows that Mr. Trudeau is “obviously not paying attention to what’s going
on around us, or choosing not to.”

Mr. Ravensbergen said he does not agree with those calling for the
government to be overthrown, saying Ottawa “just needs to stand up and
actually listen to the people of Canada.” He said he doesn’t know when the protest will end, as he sits in his truck completely boxed in by other
trucks.

“I think that’s going to depend on the rest of the truckers around us. I
think expecting Trudeau to come out and say, ‘Fine, we end the mandates’
is not realistic. I think it’s more just to raise awareness (that)
Canadians are not happy with the way things are going.”

Tonight, he and his boys will sleep in the box of the truck, where they
have a heater and cots.

– Marieke Walsh, Janice Dickson
1:28 p.m. ET

The Canadian Anti-Hate Network, which monitors and reports on extremist
groups, says the organizers of the trucker convoy have a long track record
of racist and extremist views.

“We see the organizers calling for Justin Trudeau to be tried for treason. Other organizers ... have made Islamophobic comments and racist comments,”
said Evan Balgord, executive director of the organization.

While it is fair to protest vaccine mandates, he said, politicians and
ordinary people alike should consider whether they want to be involved in
a demonstration that has been organized by far-right groups with histories
of hateful speech.

Story continues below advertisement

Mr. Balgord said it’s concerning to see Conservative politicians at the protest, especially after parliamentary security warned MPs to stay away
from the event.

“When parties start to pander to fringe racists and extremists, they end
up eating into the party and getting more power in the party,” Mr. Balgord said.

– Salmaan Farooqui
1:15 p.m. ET

Few wore face masks, but many of the estimated thousands who gathered on
the snow-covered lawn in front of Parliament were in balaclavas as the temperature in Ottawa with wind chill was -21 degrees.

“It’s not just about the vaccines. It’s about stopping the public health mandates altogether,” said Daniel Bazinet, owner of Valley Flatbed & Transportation in Nova Scotia on the Atlantic coast. Mr. Bazinet is unvaccinated, but operates domestically and so is not affected by the cross-border mandate.

He is in a convoy of some 200 trucks slowly arriving from the east, and
says public health policies pushed by Mr. Trudeau’s government have gone
too far.

“Where’s it all going to end? That’s how a lot of people feel,” he said in
a telephone interview.

– Reuters
12:35 p.m. ET

The Canadian Trucking Alliance says it appears a number of protesters in
Ottawa have no connection to the trucking industry.

The group is telling Canadians that many of the people they may see or
hear in media reports at the trucking protest on Parliament Hill do not
speak for the industry or represent truckers as a whole.

About one-tenth of truckers that haul goods are estimated to be affected
by requirements on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border for drivers to be vaccinated in order to cross freely.

The alliance said in a statement that the industry must adapt and comply
with this mandate, noting the vast majority of drivers have done so.

Story continues below advertisement

For truckers protesting the vaccination mandate at the border, the
trucking alliance is asking them to be peaceful and then leave the city.

The statement adds that truckers’ actions at the demonstration will have
an impact on the image of their colleagues nationally.

– The Canadian Press

Related: Almost one in five Canadian truckers is South Asian, but many don’t see themselves represented in the trucker convoy

11:44 a.m. ET

Organizers have cancelled a planned in-person vigil in Ottawa to mark the
fifth anniversary of the Quebec City mosque shooting that left six men
dead and five others seriously wounded.

A lone gunman shot and killed six worshippers shortly after the end of
evening prayers on Jan. 29, 2017.

Canadians United Against Hate had organized an interfaith candlelight
vigil for tonight at a human rights monument by Ottawa City Hall, a few
blocks south of Parliament Hill.

The group now says it will be holding a virtual vigil because of the
truckers’ protest in downtown Ottawa and the risk of violence from some attendees.

The Ottawa vigil is one of several organized by community groups.

The events coincide with the first National Day of Remembrance of the
Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action Against Islamophobia, which was
proclaimed last April.

– The Canadian Press
Jan. 29, 11:15 a.m. ET

Ottawa police weren’t reporting any issues Saturday morning related to the event, as people slowly rolled into the downtown core to join trucks
parked along Wellington Street in front of the parliamentary buildings.

The national flag was flying from some vehicles, or draped around the
shoulders of some protesters, many of whom appeared to be unmasked. Some
were carrying copies of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Story continues below advertisement

Some vehicles had parked in front of the National War Memorial, but Ottawa police said in a tweet that they moved when asked. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson followed up in a tweet:

Hundreds more vehicles from Western Canada, Quebec and the Atlantic
provinces are expected to arrive in the next few hours to join those
already in Ottawa.

Officers are keeping emergency lanes open and plan to continue to tow
vehicles obstructing those lanes and any other places police need to keep
clear for public safety.

– The Canadian Press
Jan. 28, 9:11 p.m. ET

A truck that is part of a trucker convoy to protest coronavirus disease
vaccine mandates for cross-border truck drivers on Parliament Hill in
Ottawa on Jan. 28, 2022.PATRICK DOYLE/Reuters

Ottawa is on edge as police and businesses prepare for a convoy of
protesters demanding an end to vaccine mandates, which began converging on
the country’s capital Friday.

Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly described the demonstration as “unique,
fluid, risky and significant,” during a press briefing on Friday. He said
that while organizers have advised police that it will be peaceful, the
force does not know when the rally will conclude and is concerned about
the possibility of “lone-wolf individuals.”

“These demonstrations are national in scope, they are massive in scale. Unfortunately, they are polarizing in nature, and they come almost two
full years into a highly stressful and tragic global pandemic,” he said.

Chief Sloly said Ottawa police are prepared to investigate, charge and prosecute anyone who acts violently or breaks the law in association with
the demonstrations. He said they are co-ordinating with federal,
provincial and local partners to ensure that they are identifying people
who pose a threat.

Continue reading...

– Janice Dickson, Marieke Walsh and Michelle Carbert
Explainer

Why an anti-vaccine-mandate trucker convoy called the Freedom Rally drove across Canada to Ottawa
Jan. 28, 6:08 p.m. ET

Prime Minister Trudeau on Friday disavowed this weekend’s trucker convoy protests in an interview with the Canadian Press and said he was concerned
by the anti-vaccine-mandate movement.

“Canadians are not represented by this very troubling, small but very
vocal minority of Canadians who are lashing out at science, at government,
at society, at mandates and public health advice,” he said.

Story continues below advertisement

Similarly, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said while he understands people are frustrated, he is concerned by the “dangerous rhetoric we’ve seen from the convoy.”

The Conservatives oppose vaccine mandates and several high-profile
Conservative MPs have supported the protest. On Friday, Leader Erin
O’Toole met with some truckers taking part in the protest at a truck stop
south of Ottawa.

“I wanted to talk to some people that were actual truckers protesting and
using their democratic right and some of the people that were gathering to
wave flags and show their support,” he said in an interview.

Ontario Conservative MPs Pierre Poilievre and Lianne Rood both said they
would meet the protesters in Ottawa.

“I’m going to look for an opportunity to bring coffee and support and friendship for peaceful, law-abiding, hard-working, freedom-loving
truckers, who have kept my family and yours alive throughout this pandemic
by putting food on our table.” Mr. Poilievre said.

Some of the self-proclaimed organizers of the convoy are also behind a document, dubbed a “memorandum of understanding,” that says they want to replace the Trudeau government with a government made up of themselves,
the Senate and the Governor General and require all levels of government
to end pandemic-related measures like vaccine mandates. The document,
written in French and English and dated 2021, has more than 243,000
signatures online.

The group has attracted other people with extremist views. One online
video includes a man expressing hope the protest will turn into the
Canadian equivalent of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol by
supporters of former president Donald Trump. A commenter on the group’s Facebook page suggested the protesters “flood the legislature buildings.”

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

XPost: can.politics, alt.health.virus.cure.alternatives, sac.politics
XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, talk.politics.guns

#karenconvoy trends on twitter as whiners and complainers drive to ottawa
to have a word with management despite how 90% of truckers are vaccinated
and the leaders of the protest were exposed for their white supremacist
views and are not even truckers. Most mandates are by Provinces, not the Federal government, so it's just a big Trudeau hate fest too.


Updates: Officials condemn ‘desecration’ of monuments, hateful signs on
display at trucker convoy protest

Truckers and supporters demonstrate against COVID-19 vaccine mandates in
Ottawa Saturday. Find the latest updates here
Globe Staff and Wire Services
Published January 29, 2022
Updated Yesterday

Supporters of a cross-country truck convoy protesting measures to curb the spread of COVID-19 such as vaccine mandates walk near Parliament Hill in
Ottawa on Jan. 29, 2022.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
1458 Comments
Listen to article

A convoy of vehicles converged on Ottawa on Saturday in a demonstration
that was initially pitched as a protest against vaccine mandates for truck drivers, but that has snowballed into a broader movement against pandemic- related measures, including mask mandates and lockdowns.

Police on Saturday used plows to block off a perimeter to vehicle traffic around Parliament Hill as lines of trucks that arrived the day before
stayed parked on Wellington Street.

The Canadian Anti-Hate Network said the convoy leaders have a history of hateful speech and Canadians should be considering their alignment with
them.

Thousands of people wove their way through the trucks and onto Parliament
Hill, waving flags, playing music and creating a racket with horns, drums, tambourines, and other instruments.

The crowd on the lawn in front of the Centre Block swelled in size since earlier this morning, with people mostly shoulder to shoulder as movement slowed.

Among the people on the Hill were parents with their kids, groups of
friends, and elderly or disabled people using canes. People carried signs
with aggressive and obscenity-laced rhetoric directed mostly at Prime
Minister Justin Trudeau.

As of Saturday afternoon, the protests were peaceful and there was a
largely party-like atmosphere on Parliament Hill, with some people handing
out cookies and coffee and others drinking beer and smoking marijuana.

Thousands of supporters arrive at Parliament Hill for the Freedom
Truck Convoy to protest against Covid-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions
in Ottawa on Saturday,LARS HAGBERG/AFP/Getty Images
1 of 18

Protestors stand on a trailer carrying logs as part of the convoy protesting vaccine mandates for cross-border truck drivers in
Ottawa.PATRICK DOYLE/Reuters
2 of 18

Supporters arrive at Parliament Hill for the Freedom Truck Convoy to protest against Covid-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions in Ottawa.LARS HAGBERG/AFP/Getty Images
3 of 18

Supporters wave flags on an overpass in Kanata, Ont., as a trucker
convoy makes its way to Parliament Hill in Ottawa to protest against
vaccine mandates for truckersFrank Gunn/The Canadian Press
4 of 18

Trucks sit parked on Wellington Street near the Parliament Buildings
in Ottawa as truckers and their supporters take part in a convoy to
protest vaccine mandates.PATRICK DOYLE/Reuters
5 of 18

People participate in a cross-country truck convoy protesting vaccine mandates at Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Saturday.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
6 of 18

Hundreds of truckers arrived in Ottawa on Saturday as part of a self- titled "Freedom Convoy" to protest vaccine mandates required to cross the
US border.LARS HAGBERG/AFP/Getty Images
7 of 18

A counter protester holds a sign promoting vaccines as others wave
flags during a rally against COVID-19 restrictions on Parliament
Hill.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
8 of 18

People wave from their sunroof during a rally against COVID-19
restrictions on Wellington Street in Ottawa.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
9 of 18

People make their way down Wellington Street to front of Parliament
Hill in Ottawa during a rally against COVID-19 restrictions.Justin
Tang/The Canadian Press
10 of 18

Hundreds of truckers and their supporters protest vaccine mandates
required to cross the US border in Ottawa on Saturday as part of a self-
titled "Freedom Convoy"LARS HAGBERG/AFP/Getty Images
11 of 18

Counter protestors stand across from Parliament Hill as truckers take
part in a convoy to protest vaccine mandates for cross-border truck
drivers in Ottawa.PATRICK DOYLE/Reuters
12 of 18

People and vehicles fill Wellington Street near Parliament Hill in
Ottawa during a rally against COVID-19 restrictions.Justin Tang/The
Canadian Press
13 of 18

A person holds a sign for the "Freedom Convoy" as supporters rally
against COVID-19 restrictions on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
14 of 18

People stand and wave flags on top of a logging truck parked on
Wellington Street near Parliament Hill during a rally against COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine mandates.Justin Tang/The Canadian Press
15 of 18

Protesters participating in a cross-country truck convoy protesting
vaccine mandates walk between trucks parked near Parliament Hill in Ottawa
on Saturday.Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press
16 of 18

People look down on trucks parked on Wellington Street during a rally against COVID-19 restrictions in downtown Ottawa.Justin Tang/The Canadian
Press
17 of 18

Supporters of the Freedom Convoy protest Covid-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions in front of Parliament Hill on Saturday.LARS
HAGBERG/AFP/Getty Images
18 of 18

Thousands of supporters arrive at Parliament Hill for the Freedom Truck
Convoy to protest against Covid-19 vaccine mandates and restrictions in
Ottawa on Saturday,LARS HAGBERG/AFP/Getty Images
1 of 18
The latest developments:

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole spoke out in support of protesters’
right to demonstrate peacefully, but condemned those who parked their cars
on the National War Memorial.
Former U.S. president Donald Trump gave a shoutout to the convoy
protesters at one of his trademark rallies in Texas, saying “we are with
them all the way.”
Politicians, including Conservative MP Michelle Rempel Garner, are condemning Nazi imagery displayed at the protest in Ottawa.
The mayor of Terry Fox’s hometown in British Columbia is calling for
the immediate removal of protest signs and materials from his statue in
Ottawa.
The Canadian Anti-Hate Network says Canadians should be considering
their alignment with convoy leaders who have a history of hateful speech.
An industry group says many people converging on Ottawa are not
connected to the trucking industry and do not represent truckers when they
make remarks.
Organizers of an in-person candlelight vigil in Ottawa to mark the anniversary of the Quebec City mosque shooting cancelled the event, citing
a risk of violence from some people associated with the convoy.

11:20 p.m.

Conservative Michael Cooper is distancing himself from a Parliament Hill demonstrator who was flying a Canadian flag with a swastika drawn on it
behind the Alberta MP during a television interview.

Cooper says he didn’t know someone “with whom I’m not associated” was
flying the Nazi symbol “some distance behind my back” as he spoke to the
CBC.

He says he condemns Nazism, calling it “the purest form of evil.”

Story continues below advertisement

Cooper also says whoever flew the flag with the symbol “should be
eternally ashamed,” adding that the person didn’t represent those at the protest who acted responsibly, whom Cooper supports.

The statement comes after the mayors of the two towns overlapping his
Alberta riding, Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and St. Albert Mayor Cathy
Heron, called on Cooper to apologize for “his behavior and lack of
judgment.”

Pictures and video of Nazi imagery being displayed at the truckers’
protest spurred swift condemnations from across the political spectrum, including from some of Cooper’s caucus colleagues.

Fellow Alberta Conservative Damien Kurek was also at the protest.

In a tweet, he, too, condemns “any signs of hate, antisemitism, or
disrespect” and writes that many protesters he spoke with believed those
signs “are disgraceful and don’t represent those involved.”

- The Canadian Press

Story continues below advertisement
11:04 p.m.

Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole, who served in the Canadian Armed Forces,
also spoke out.

“I support the right to peacefully protest but that should not be confused
with blatant disrespect for the men and women who have served, inspired,
and protected our country,” he tweeted. “The individuals desecrating these memorials should be ashamed and their behaviour undermines the brave
Canadians who have sacrificed for our country.”

- The Canadian Press
9:50 p.m. ET

Former U.S. president Donald Trump, speaking Saturday in Texas at one of
his trademark rallies, shouted out the protests briefly as he urged the
crowd to reject vaccine mandates in all their forms.

In “resisting bravely” what he called “lawless” mandates, truckers in
Canada “are doing more to defend American freedom than our own leaders, by far,” Trump said.

“We are with them all the way. They have really shown something.”

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- The Canadian Press
8:52 p.m. ET

Politicians are condemning Nazi imagery displayed at a protest against
vaccine mandates and COVID-19 measures in Ottawa.

Photos being circulated online show protesters waving the the Nazi flag
and a Canadian flag with a swastika drawn on it.

Conservative member of Parliament Michelle Rempel Garner says that
symbolism is a “banner for evil, murder, unjustness” and the genocide of millions of Jews.

She says the Nazi flag should never be flown in Canada.

Marty Morantz, another Conservative legislator, says the voices of people espousing such hate “must always be condemned - never defended or
explained away.”

- The Canadian Press
8:10 p.m. ET

Further south at the U.S. border in Coutts, Alta., RCMP said several
hundred, possibly up to 1,000 vehicles, took part in another protest, eventually blocking Highway 4 to the U.S. border crossing in both
directions.

Cpl. Curtis Peters, an RCMP spokesman, said there was no access to the
border on the Canadian side and that U.S. officials were turning traffic
around on the other side.

He said no arrests had been made by late Saturday afternoon, but that
Coutts itself was blocked off in case emergency vehicles needed to get in.

“We’re engaging in dialogue with them and encouraging them to rethink
that,” Peters said from Coutts late Saturday afternoon.

- The Canadian Press

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3:36 p.m. ET

In the morning, vehicles were still moving through some streets in the downtown, but by 2:30 on Saturday, the City of Ottawa said all streets in
the downtown core were “closed due to gridlock.”

“There is no more room for vehicles, other than first responders,” read an update from the city posted to Twitter.

Police said in a statement that vehicles are being redirected away from
the core even as more trucks are trying to make their way downtown.

The Ontario Provincial Police, who are responsible for Highway 417, the
main east-west artery through Ottawa, told drivers to avoid the westbound
lanes because of traffic backlogs linked to the demonstration.

The sheer size of the protest, which attracted thousands to Ottawa, led
local police to ask for backup from nearby forces.

Ottawa police said they have officers from forces in Ontario, including Toronto, Durham Region and London, as well as officers from the OPP and
RCMP.

To the west of Ottawa’s downtown, city officials said the demonstrations
shut down a nine-kilometre stretch of the Sir John A. Macdonald Parkway.

– Marieke Walsh, with a report from The Canadian Press
3:25 p.m. ET

The mayor of Terry Fox’s hometown is speaking out after images surfaced of protesters putting an upside-down Canadian flag and protest sign on the national hero’s statue in Ottawa.

Brad West, Mayor of Port Coquitlam, B.C., said Mr. Fox was a unifier and
the protest materials should be removed immediately.

“Whatever your cause, you don’t get to appropriate his legacy and you
don’t touch his statue. Ever. This should be removed immediately,” said
Mr. West in a tweet.

Mr. Fox became a household name during his Marathon of Hope in 1981, where
he raised money and awareness for cancer research by attempting to run
across the country after having a leg amputated due to cancer. He died
partway through the endeavour.

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– Salmaan Farooqui
2:41 p.m. ET

Protesters on the Hill who spoke with Globe reporters said they were
opposed to vaccine and mask mandates, but while some wanted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau booted from government, others just wanted the federal and provincial restrictions reversed.

“He needs to get out,” Vanessa Lemire of Témiscaming, Que., said. “He
works for himself; he doesn’t work for the people.”

Ms. Lemire said her complaints don’t just rest with the federal government
but also with Premier Francois Legault’s policies in Quebec. “Quebeckers
are starting to rise up,” she said.

She also repeated conspiracy theories, calling the pandemic a lie and
saying the last federal election was rigged.

Tyler Armstrong, a flatbed truck driver from Hamilton, Ont., stood in
front of his truck parked on Wellington St. as horns blared around him.

Mr. Armstrong, 25, said he arrived in Ottawa on Friday and that he is here “fighting for freedom” and to an end to mandates across Canada. Mr.
Armstrong said because he is not vaccinated, he can no longer work.

“You can’t cross the border, you can’t go to a restaurant. It’s not
right,” he said.

He said he supports the call for the government to be replaced, saying the crowd in Ottawa shows that the Liberal government is doing something
wrong.

“I feel very proud to be Canadian at this moment just because of the
amount of people that have come out, so, it’s awesome.” He said he chose
not to be vaccinated because “it’s forced.”

“I just don’t think anything should be forced. It’s not right.”

Nearby, Peter Ravensbergen, 40, from Smithville, Ont., sat in his truck
with his two oldest boys who are 12 and 14. Mr. Ravensbergen said they
arrived on Friday.

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“I am here to represent our farm, to basically stand up for freedom, stand
up for the freedom to choose, stand up for the freedom to be able to work
in this country,” he said from his truck window.

Mr. Ravensbergen said they farm and truck their own goods: flowers and
plants. He said he is not vaccinated because he does not trust the
vaccine, but added that many at the protest are vaccinated, but they are fighting for the “freedom to have choice.”

He said the vaccine mandate has not affected his job because he works in Ontario, but he came to the protest to support others in the trucking community.

“Our goal is just to raise awareness that we are not a fringe group of
(the) minority here. This is a huge group of people that want to fight for freedom in Canada,” he said.

Earlier in the week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau described the
protesters as a “fringe minority.” Mr. Ravensbergen said that description
shows that Mr. Trudeau is “obviously not paying attention to what’s going
on around us, or choosing not to.”

Mr. Ravensbergen said he does not agree with those calling for the
government to be overthrown, saying Ottawa “just needs to stand up and
actually listen to the people of Canada.” He said he doesn’t know when the protest will end, as he sits in his truck completely boxed in by other
trucks.

“I think that’s going to depend on the rest of the truckers around us. I
think expecting Trudeau to come out and say, ‘Fine, we end the mandates’
is not realistic. I think it’s more just to raise awareness (that)
Canadians are not happy with the way things are going.”

Tonight, he and his boys will sleep in the box of the truck, where they
have a heater and cots.

– Marieke Walsh, Janice Dickson
1:28 p.m. ET

The Canadian Anti-Hate Network, which monitors and reports on extremist
groups, says the organizers of the trucker convoy have a long track record
of racist and extremist views.

“We see the organizers calling for Justin Trudeau to be tried for treason. Other organizers ... have made Islamophobic comments and racist comments,”
said Evan Balgord, executive director of the organization.

While it is fair to protest vaccine mandates, he said, politicians and
ordinary people alike should consider whether they want to be involved in
a demonstration that has been organized by far-right groups with histories
of hateful speech.

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Mr. Balgord said it’s concerning to see Conservative politicians at the protest, especially after parliamentary security warned MPs to stay away
from the event.

“When parties start to pander to fringe racists and extremists, they end
up eating into the party and getting more power in the party,” Mr. Balgord said.

– Salmaan Farooqui
1:15 p.m. ET

Few wore face masks, but many of the estimated thousands who gathered on
the snow-covered lawn in front of Parliament were in balaclavas as the temperature in Ottawa with wind chill was -21 degrees.

“It’s not just about the vaccines. It’s about stopping the public health mandates altogether,” said Daniel Bazinet, owner of Valley Flatbed & Transportation in Nova Scotia on the Atlantic coast. Mr. Bazinet is unvaccinated, but operates domestically and so is not affected by the cross-border mandate.

He is in a convoy of some 200 trucks slowly arriving from the east, and
says public health policies pushed by Mr. Trudeau’s government have gone
too far.

“Where’s it all going to end? That’s how a lot of people feel,” he said in
a telephone interview.

– Reuters
12:35 p.m. ET

The Canadian Trucking Alliance says it appears a number of protesters in
Ottawa have no connection to the trucking industry.

The group is telling Canadians that many of the people they may see or
hear in media reports at the trucking protest on Parliament Hill do not
speak for the industry or represent truckers as a whole.

About one-tenth of truckers that haul goods are estimated to be affected
by requirements on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border for drivers to be vaccinated in order to cross freely.

The alliance said in a statement that the industry must adapt and comply
with this mandate, noting the vast majority of drivers have done so.

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For truckers protesting the vaccination mandate at the border, the
trucking alliance is asking them to be peaceful and then leave the city.

The statement adds that truckers’ actions at the demonstration will have
an impact on the image of their colleagues nationally.

– The Canadian Press

Related: Almost one in five Canadian truckers is South Asian, but many don’t see themselves represented in the trucker convoy

11:44 a.m. ET

Organizers have cancelled a planned in-person vigil in Ottawa to mark the
fifth anniversary of the Quebec City mosque shooting that left six men
dead and five others seriously wounded.

A lone gunman shot and killed six worshippers shortly after the end of
evening prayers on Jan. 29, 2017.

Canadians United Against Hate had organized an interfaith candlelight
vigil for tonight at a human rights monument by Ottawa City Hall, a few
blocks south of Parliament Hill.

The group now says it will be holding a virtual vigil because of the
truckers’ protest in downtown Ottawa and the risk of violence from some attendees.

The Ottawa vigil is one of several organized by community groups.

The events coincide with the first National Day of Remembrance of the
Quebec City Mosque Attack and Action Against Islamophobia, which was
proclaimed last April.

– The Canadian Press
Jan. 29, 11:15 a.m. ET

Ottawa police weren’t reporting any issues Saturday morning related to the event, as people slowly rolled into the downtown core to join trucks
parked along Wellington Street in front of the parliamentary buildings.

The national flag was flying from some vehicles, or draped around the
shoulders of some protesters, many of whom appeared to be unmasked. Some
were carrying copies of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

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Some vehicles had parked in front of the National War Memorial, but Ottawa police said in a tweet that they moved when asked. Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson followed up in a tweet:

Hundreds more vehicles from Western Canada, Quebec and the Atlantic
provinces are expected to arrive in the next few hours to join those
already in Ottawa.

Officers are keeping emergency lanes open and plan to continue to tow
vehicles obstructing those lanes and any other places police need to keep
clear for public safety.

– The Canadian Press
Jan. 28, 9:11 p.m. ET

A truck that is part of a trucker convoy to protest coronavirus disease
vaccine mandates for cross-border truck drivers on Parliament Hill in
Ottawa on Jan. 28, 2022.PATRICK DOYLE/Reuters

Ottawa is on edge as police and businesses prepare for a convoy of
protesters demanding an end to vaccine mandates, which began converging on
the country’s capital Friday.

Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly described the demonstration as “unique,
fluid, risky and significant,” during a press briefing on Friday. He said
that while organizers have advised police that it will be peaceful, the
force does not know when the rally will conclude and is concerned about
the possibility of “lone-wolf individuals.”

“These demonstrations are national in scope, they are massive in scale. Unfortunately, they are polarizing in nature, and they come almost two
full years into a highly stressful and tragic global pandemic,” he said.

Chief Sloly said Ottawa police are prepared to investigate, charge and prosecute anyone who acts violently or breaks the law in association with
the demonstrations. He said they are co-ordinating with federal,
provincial and local partners to ensure that they are identifying people
who pose a threat.

Continue reading...

– Janice Dickson, Marieke Walsh and Michelle Carbert
Explainer

Why an anti-vaccine-mandate trucker convoy called the Freedom Rally drove across Canada to Ottawa
Jan. 28, 6:08 p.m. ET

Prime Minister Trudeau on Friday disavowed this weekend’s trucker convoy protests in an interview with the Canadian Press and said he was concerned
by the anti-vaccine-mandate movement.

“Canadians are not represented by this very troubling, small but very
vocal minority of Canadians who are lashing out at science, at government,
at society, at mandates and public health advice,” he said.

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Similarly, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said while he understands people are frustrated, he is concerned by the “dangerous rhetoric we’ve seen from the convoy.”

The Conservatives oppose vaccine mandates and several high-profile
Conservative MPs have supported the protest. On Friday, Leader Erin
O’Toole met with some truckers taking part in the protest at a truck stop
south of Ottawa.

“I wanted to talk to some people that were actual truckers protesting and
using their democratic right and some of the people that were gathering to
wave flags and show their support,” he said in an interview.

Ontario Conservative MPs Pierre Poilievre and Lianne Rood both said they
would meet the protesters in Ottawa.

“I’m going to look for an opportunity to bring coffee and support and friendship for peaceful, law-abiding, hard-working, freedom-loving
truckers, who have kept my family and yours alive throughout this pandemic
by putting food on our table.” Mr. Poilievre said.

Some of the self-proclaimed organizers of the convoy are also behind a document, dubbed a “memorandum of understanding,” that says they want to replace the Trudeau government with a government made up of themselves,
the Senate and the Governor General and require all levels of government
to end pandemic-related measures like vaccine mandates. The document,
written in French and English and dated 2021, has more than 243,000
signatures online.

The group has attracted other people with extremist views. One online
video includes a man expressing hope the protest will turn into the
Canadian equivalent of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot at the U.S. Capitol by
supporters of former president Donald Trump. A commenter on the group’s Facebook page suggested the protesters “flood the legislature buildings.”

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