Canadian Truckers Freedom Convoy 2022, a Beacon of Hope for Fight Against Vaccine Mandate

The ongoing Canadian Truckers Freedom Convoy 2022 has become a beacon of hope that overreaching COVID-19 lockdowns, restrictions and mandates will soon come to an end.

Truckers have joined the convoy in their thousands with social commenters estimating them to be around 50 000 trucks.

Freedom Convoy 2022 spokesman, Benjamin Dichter said the protest is about lifting vaccine mandates for truckers at the Canada-U.S. border and other issues relating to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, including forcing drivers to wear masks in trucks.

Before January 15, 2022, truck drivers and other essential workers had been exempt from the two-week quarantine for the unvaccinated travellers crossing Canada’s borders.

The removal of the exemption has been criticised by some truckers and politicians citing the potential to exacerbate the supply chain disruptions already experienced in Canada.

Industry players say the trucking industry could face an additional 20-25 % reduction of the workforce when already suffering from labour shortages.

The Canadian government is standing firm.

“The government of Canada and the Canadian Trucking Alliance both agree that vaccination, used in combination with preventative public health measures, is the most effective tool to reduce the risk of COVID-19 for Canadians, and to protect public health,” said a joint statement from federal cabinet ministers Omar Alghabra, Seamus O’Regan and Carla Qualtrough, and Canadian Trucking Alliance president Stephen Laskowski.

The showdown is shaping up to be a potential game of chicken with both parties not wanting to lose and look like a chicken.

Freedom Convoy 2022 Update

The convoy to Ottawa has been reported to be 70 km long posing a real threat to the world record set in 2020.

“It’s 70 km long,” said Benjamin Dichter, spokesman for the Freedom Convoy 2022. “I have seen footage from an airplane. It’s impressive.”

According to Guinness World Records, the longest truck convoy ever recorded was 7.5 km long, in Egypt in 2020.

Read also: Colourful truckers charity convoy rolls into Killarney

“The largest parade of trucks consisted of 480 trucks and is achieved by Tahya Misr Fund (Egypt), in Cairo, Egypt, on 20 November 2020,” Guinness says on its website.

GoFundMe says donations for the Truck Convoy Heading to Ottawa continue to be accepted and so far over $5 million has been raised.

Thousands of Canadians have lined the route, cheered from overpasses and offered to feed drivers in their homes and restaurants.

It’s a grassroots demonstration that has become far bigger than anything organizers had imagined.

Plans call for the convoy to arrive in Ottawa on Saturday for a protest.

If it gets there on time — and if the convoy holds together as it has in British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan — it could be 10 times larger than the world record.

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