• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • SCB YouTube
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Supply Chains in Crisis
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • THINK TANK
  • WEBINARS
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
    • Webinar Library
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Truckers Protesting Vaccine Rule Stay Put in Canada’s Capital

Truckers Protesting Vaccine Rule Stay Put in Canada’s Capital

Truckers Protest
Demonstrators gather as rows of trucks sit parked during a protest near Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Photo: Bloomberg.
January 30, 2022
Bloomberg

Raucous protests in Canada’s capital continued Sunday over trucker vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 health restrictions, but the crowd thinned from its height a day earlier after drawing military and political rebukes for poor behavior.

The main avenue outside the parliament buildings in Ottawa remained blockaded by a line of big rigs, and protesters speaking on a makeshift stage said they don’t intend to leave anytime soon. Canada’s legislature has been on a winter break since mid-December, but is scheduled to resume sitting on Monday.

The trucker convoy has drawn an unusual amount of global attention, most recently from Donald Trump. “We want those great Canadian truckers to know that we are with them all the way,” the former U.S. president told a Texas rally Saturday night. The protesters in Ottawa are “doing more to defend American freedom than our own leaders by far,” he said.

But images of Nazi flags, along with footage of vehicles parked on the national war memorial with beer-drinking protesters dancing on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, dealt a blow to the convoy’s credibility.

General Wayne Eyre, Canada’s top soldier, tweeted that he was “sickened” by the footage at the war memorial, which was the site of a terrorist attack in 2014 that killed a 24-year-old soldier. 

“Generations of Canadians have fought and died for our rights, including free speech, but not this,” Eyre said. “Those involved should hang their heads in shame.”

Gridlocked Streets

The demonstrations have paralyzed traffic in the city’s core, but have been largely peaceful so far. Ottawa police, who haven’t yet released a crowd-size estimate, said Sunday morning they are investigating various incidents but have so far made no arrests.

Even so, the protests have generated substantial controversy. 

Images of swastikas and a Confederate flag appearing near the main demonstrations circulated on social media, and a soup kitchen near parliament said its staff were intimidated by some demonstrators into giving them free food. A statue of Terry Fox, an amputee who became a Canadian icon for attempting a cross-country trek to raise money for cancer research, was draped with protest propaganda.

Ottawa’s downtown liquor stores were closed early on Saturday and remained shuttered Sunday. Other local businesses have been swamped by demonstrators defying mask mandates, and a large downtown shopping mall closed after protesters refused to follow COVID-19 regulations.

Politically, the protest has exacerbated long-standing tensions in the main opposition Conservative Party. 

Leader Erin O’Toole has attempted to walk a fine line, embracing the cause of aggrieved truckers in general while distancing himself from the actual protest and its inflammatory rhetoric, such as equating Canada’s vaccine mandates to Nazism.

But multiple Conservative lawmakers have fully embraced the protest and filmed themselves attending in person. Michael Cooper, who represents a district in oil-producing Alberta, gave a TV interview Saturday afternoon while a protester behind waved an upside-down Canadian flag with a swastika scrawled on it. (Cooper later issued a statement saying he was unassociated with the protester and unaware of the flag.)

After the controversy at the war memorial, O’Toole — who is a military veteran — condemned the protesters’ conduct.

“I support the right to peacefully protest but that should not be confused with blatant disrespect for the men and women who have served, inspired, and protected our country,” O’Toole said in a series of tweets Saturday night. “The individuals desecrating these memorials should be ashamed and their behavior undermines the brave Canadians who have sacrificed for our country.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who earlier denounced the protest as the work of a “fringe minority,” has been staying in an undisclosed location in the Ottawa region. Trudeau is also currently isolating after one of his children tested positive for Covid. The prime minister has so far tested negative.

Police and the parliamentary security service haven’t yet said how they will handle the situation if the semi trucks refuse to budge from Ottawa’s streets. Protest organizers claim they won’t leave until all vaccine mandates are lifted, but most such public-health orders are in the jurisdiction of provincial governments.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Logistics LTL/Truckload Services Transportation & Distribution HR & Labor Management Regulation & Compliance
  • Related Articles

    Protesting Truckers Clog Up Washington’s Interstates

    Truckers Defy Trudeau's Crackdown as Canada Freezes Assets

    Trucker Vaccine Rule Is Making Freight and Fruit Pricier

Bloomberg

Volvo May Move Investments to U.S. If Europe’s Green-Tech Push Falls Short

More from this author

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter!

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • A HAND TURNS A LARGE, LIGHTED DIAL WITH THE WORD RISK ON IT iStock-NicoElNino-1364371014.jpg

    Measuring KPIs and KRIs for Comprehensive Supplier Performance Management

    Technology
  • A COMPLEX SERIES OF ROADWAYS AND RAMPS, SEEN FROM HIGH ABOVE, IS PARTLY SHROUDED BY CLOUD

    Supply Chain Visibility Isn’t Just a Catchphrase; It’s an Imperative

    Logistics
  • A WOMAN IN HER LIVING ROOM GESTURES IN DISMAY ON THE PHONE OVER AN OPEN SHIPPING BOX

    Retailers – Quit Bellyaching and Differentiate Yourself on Returns

    Reverse Logistics
  • A CONTAINER SHIP PLIES A SILVERY OCEAN

    CVC Nears Deal to Acquire Logistics Firm Scan Global

    Logistics
  • A TRUCK LEAVES A PORT DOCK LOADED WITH A CONTAINER

    C.H. Robinson Digs in Against Activist Investor Ancora

    Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage

Digital Edition

Scb q1 2023 cover

2023 Supply Chain Management Resource Guide: Packing for a Difficult Year

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • New Revenue for Cloud-Based TMS that Embeds Orderful’s Modern EDI Platform

  • Convenience Store Client Maximizes Profit and Improves Customer Service

  • A Digitally Native Footwear Brand Finds Rapid Fulfillment

  • Expanding Apparel Brand Scales Seamlessly with E-Commerce Technology

  • How a Global LSP Scaled its Security Program and Won More Business

Visit Our Sponsors

Orderful Yang Ming Alithya
Barcoding Blue Yonder BNSF Logistics
CoEnterprise Data Capture Deposco
E2open GAINSystems Generix
Geodis GEP GreyOrange
Here Honeywell Intelligrated IFM
Infor Inmar Keelvar
Kinaxis Korber Lean Solutions Group 2H
Liberty SBF Locus Robotics Logility
LogistiVIEW Lucas Systems MCA Connect
MPO Nvidia Old Dominion
OpenText ORTEC Overhaul
Parsyl PMMI QIMA
Redwood Logistics Ryder E-commerce by Whiplash Saddle Creek Logistics
Schneider Dedicated Setlog Holding AG Ship4WD
Shipwell Tecsys TGW Systems
Thomson Reuters Tive Trailer Bridge
Vecna Robotics Verity
Verusen
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright ©2023 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing