Convoy protesting vaccine mandate for truck drivers reaches Winnipeg's Perimeter Highway
CBC
A convoy of transport trucks is travelling through Manitoba on its way to Ottawa to protest the federal mandate that requires them to be vaccinated to cross the Canada-U.S. border.
On Tuesday afternoon, a crowd of about 100 supporters waited near the Flying J near Headingley, just west of Winnipeg, welcoming the convoy with signs of support as it continued its journey around the city on the Perimeter Highway.
Winnipeg's Robert Jorgenson joined the convoy and said he plans to travel with the truck drivers all the way to Ottawa.
"This isn't even about a vaccine anymore. It's not. It's not about a vaccine mandate on truckers," Jorgenson said. "I have been free my whole life and somehow now I'm not. This is Canada."
Others, like Trevor Gatchell, brought supplies like food, water and windshield washer fluid for truck drivers.
"I am just supporting them because I want the right to choose for myself as well. I'm not anti-vax or anything like that. I want to be able to make my own choice," he said.
CBC News also received calls that several vehicles were parked along the south leg of the Perimeter Highway waiting for the convoy to arrive.
Hundreds of truckers set off from British Columbia on Sunday as part of the protest, despite the urging of the country's largest trucking federation to comply with the vaccine mandate.
As of last week, all Canadian truckers must show they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to avoid stringent testing requirements and a lengthy quarantine period. The U.S. has imposed a similar vaccine mandate.
Industry groups estimate roughly 26,000 of the 160,000 Canadian and American drivers who regularly travel across the border could be sidelined by the vaccine policy. Trade associations on both sides of the border have said the restriction would put additional strain on supply chains amid the latest COVID-19 surge and severe worker shortages.
But the Canadian Trucking Alliance, a federation of the country's carriers, owner-operators and industry suppliers, released a statement last Saturday strongly disapproving of the protest.
The convoy is expected to reach the capital by the weekend.
