The mobilization of truckers began to take shape Friday afternoon in front of parliament in Ottawa. Many demonstrators from Quebec are among the opponents of compulsory vaccination of cross-border truckers and other health measures.
On Wellington Street in front of Parliament, a Sherbrooke resident, seated on the door of a moving vehicle, animates the crowd by beating the drum. ” Enough is enough man! We want our freedom! says the demonstrator, all smiles, to the journalist from The Canadian Press.
In the vehicle in front of him, the driver holds up a sign on which it is written “We are the marginalized! “.
“Trudeau calls us marginal. He will see on Saturday what marginal people are capable of doing,” the driver warned The Canadian Press.
Truth, lies and pacifism
At the end of the afternoon, there were several hundred in front of Parliament Hill, where many Quebec flags mingled with patriotic flags, those of Canada and signs displaying slogans hostile to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Paul Poulin, a veteran of the Royal 22e Régiment, came with the aim of “removing all the restrictions” and he promises to “stay as long as necessary”.
“When the truth comes out, it’s sad to say, but there are people who will have to come to trial,” explained the man dressed in a military uniform, before adding, pointing to parliament: “If you you ask if I’m a conspirator, I don’t do conspiracies, go to the big cabin behind me if you want to find conspiracies. »
Trucker André Landry traveled from Grand-Remous with his wife to demonstrate. Both refuse to be vaccinated. “I’m pretty stiff that the needles broke when they tried to vaccinate me,” joked the rather burly trucker who doesn’t believe in the effectiveness of vaccines.
“I can no longer go to the United States, but it does not matter, in my end I have a lot of work,” he explained, saying that he is demonstrating in solidarity for these colleagues, but also so that “all, all, all restrictions” cease.
Asked about the possibility that ill-intentioned groups are using the cause of truckers to commit deplorable acts, André Landry replied “that here it’s all peaceful, except if antifa are trying to cause trouble”.
When the journalist from The Canadian Press pointed out to him that a few minutes earlier, three men had surrounded him, hurling insults at him and shouting “ F…you! Get away now! “, thus forcing him to leave the premises in the middle of an interview, the truck driver from Grand-Remous keeps smiling and explains that it is because “there are plenty of people like you who are telling lies” .
According to him, and several demonstrators met in front of the parliament, journalists, doctors and politicians are lying to the population.
A great mobilization on Saturday
Meanwhile, several convoys from several regions of the country are preparing for the great mobilization on Saturday in the capital.
In Les Coteaux, in Montérégie, Dominick Prud’homme was in the final preparations on Friday afternoon for a convoy he is organizing in his region.
He is doubly vaccinated, his wife, who will accompany him to the capital on Saturday, is also. “We are vaccinated, we are a few cars that leave, all vaccinated together,” said Mr. Prud’homme.
“I embarked on this movement mainly because I am against the vaccine passport”, he said before adding: “I wonder to what extent there we will continue to target non- vaccinated and take away their rights? »
He explained to The Canadian Press that he had followed most of the health measures since the start of the pandemic, but that now he has “full his truck”.
“I am far from being a scientist or an expert in the field, but if we look at what is happening, we have about the worst measurements, then we have the worst results,” he mentioned for explain his frustration.
The more the day progressed Friday and the more the center of Ottawa filled with trucks and the more the horns were heard near the parliament.
At around 7 p.m., a ball of fire, believed to be fireworks, was launched into the air on Sparks Street, not far from the Houses of Parliament.
The Ottawa Police Service said it called in reinforcements to help with peacekeeping as thousands of vehicles, including heavy trucks, continued toward the federal capital on Friday.