‘Friendships have been torn up’: Coutts trucker protest may have left a community divided
Global News
The small Village of Coutts was thrust into the national spotlight when a convoy of truckers and their supporters set up on the main highway into the village on Jan. 29
A protest that closed the main crossing between Alberta and the United States may have ended this week, but there’s some concern it has created a different kind of division in the border community caught in the middle of the dispute.
With a population of just 250 people, Coutts, Alta., was thrust into the national spotlight when a convoy of truckers and their supporters set up on the main highway into the village on Jan. 29 to demand an end to mandated vaccines and other pandemic health measures.
It ended in a cacophony of blaring horns as the blockade broke up and rolled out on Tuesday.
Mayor Jim Willett joked that there’s “no such thing as bad publicity,” but in an interview, he voiced worries that Coutts has become divided between those who supported the truckers and those who did not.
“We’ve talked about polarization of the community. You’re going to have people on one side and on the other,” Willett said.
“I’ve had one couple tell me they’re moving out of town and I’ve got people who have left town. Friendships have been torn up. There are people who think I’m a traitor. It may be years before we recover from this.”
Support for the truckers is evident when you drive through Coutts. An upside-down Canadian flag hangs on the fence of one home. Written in chalk on another fence are the words, “Libras (Liberals) are Commies” and “We need Alberta police force — Gastapo (sic) leave trukers(sic) alone”.
One woman, who didn’t want to give her name, stood filming the convoy as it left town.
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