Truck drivers and supporters heading to Ottawa to demonstrate against vaccine mandates travel on the Nova Scotia-New Brunswick provincial boundary in Fort Lawrence, Nova Scotia, on Jan. 23, 2022. (REUTERS/John Morris)
by Andrew Chen
January 25, 2022
A number of Conservative MPs have taken to social media to voice support for the truck drivers en route to Ottawa in a cross-country convoy protesting the federal government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
Dubbed “Freedom Convoy 2022,” hundreds of vehicles set off from northern British Columbia, with truck drivers joining from across Canada along the way. The group is rallying under an organization called Canada Unity, which will stage a massive demonstration at Parliament Hill on Jan. 29 when thousands of trucks are expected to meet in the capital.
Garnett Genuis, MP for Sherwood Park-Fort Saskatchewan, Alb., said he stands with the truck drivers who are essential to supplying Canada’s grocery stores.
“Preventing people from bringing essential goods into Canada because of their vaccination status when those drivers are sitting alone inside their cabs, and when the Omicron variant is already on both sides of the border, is really the height of absurdity,” he wrote on Twitter on Jan. 22.
The convoy was organized in response to new rules introduced on Jan. 15 that make it mandatory for truckers crossing the Canada-U.S. border to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or face a mandatory two-week quarantine upon re-entry. The U.S. government announced similar requirements beginning Jan. 22 for non-U.S. nationals crossing into the country who are not vaccinated, including Canadian truck drivers.
Former Conservative leader Andrew Scheer, MP for Regina-Qu’Appelle, Sask., blasted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on social media for introducing the vaccine mandate for truck drivers.
“Trudeau is attacking personal liberty and threatening everyone’s ability to get groceries because of his overreach on vaccine mandates,” he wrote on Twitter on Jan. 24. “He is the biggest threat to freedom in Canada.”
Scheer’s comments were supported by his colleagues Pierre Poilievre, MP for Carleton, Ont., and Leslyn Lewis, MP for Haldimand-Norfolk, Ont.
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