Demonstrators descend on Ottawa as 'freedom convoy' protests spread beyond capital
CTV
More rallies protesting COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other pandemic restrictions are underway today in Ottawa and several other major cities in Canada.
A second weekend of protests by the so-called "freedom convoy" is taking place in the country's capital, with as many as 300 to 400 trucks expected to try and enter the downtown core, according to police estimates, along with up to 2,000 people on foot and another 1,000 counter-protesters.
Protests in Toronto, Quebec City, Fredericton, Winnipeg, Regina and Victoria have started, are underway or expected near their respective provincial legislatures. A protest at the Canada-U.S. border crossing in Coutts, Alta. also remains ongoing.
Thousands of people descended on Ottawa last weekend in trucks and other vehicles for the freedom convoy, with mass gatherings staged on Parliament Hill that have continued at a relatively smaller scale since then.
While started in part over opposition to the federal government's vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers, requiring Canadians drivers returning to Canada to quarantine if unvaccinated, the protests have come to embody a general frustration over COVID-19 public health measures, with protesters and organizers calling for all pandemic restrictions to be lifted. The United States has a similar mandate for cross-border truckers, as well.
