Convoy against sanitary measures | Quebec police too strict, according to Bernard Gauthier

(Quebec) A few hundred demonstrators from the “freedom convoy” gathered on Friday in front of the seat of the National Assembly for a second evening. If everything was calm for the moment, the organizers complained about the severity of the police and they do not rule out overflows on Saturday, when the largest demonstration is expected.

Gabriel Beland
The Press

Fanny Levesque
The Press

“With the authorities, it’s shit. They don’t keep their word. A little disappointed, ”launched Bernard Gauthier.

The co-organizer of the “freedom convoy” to the capital finally spoke to the media on Friday evening. In his short statement, he answered few questions and accused the few journalists present of being “responsible for this public fear”.

“You are accomplices of this killer host there,” he yelled at the media representatives, pointing to parliament, to the applause of the crowd. “Shit! shouted a man nearby.

According to the most recent figures from the Institut national de santé publique du Québec, COVID-19 has led to the death of 13,420 Quebecers.

Only a handful of trucks

The demonstrators had gathered a stone’s throw from the seat of the National Assembly on Friday evening. Several were dancing to the sound of loudspeakers planted opposite. Only four trucks were parked on René-Lévesque Boulevard.

The officers of the Service de police de la Ville de Québec (SPVQ) did not let any car or van stop. The authorities fear that a scenario like the one in Ottawa will happen again, with many vehicles parked permanently.

Around 11 p.m. Friday, the police had issued 6 statements of offense under a municipal by-law and 34 statements under the Highway Safety Code. “Despite these infractions, everything went without overflow,” said the SPVQ.

The SPVQ also used its social networks to remind that “no camp or shelter will be tolerated” in Quebec. “This also includes trailers and trailers that can be inhabited,” adds the police force.

“We may have benefited from the experience of what happened in Ottawa. This [dont] we agreed with [le maire de Québec] Bruno Marchand and the police, it’s not to let them settle, ”said Prime Minister François Legault earlier in the day.

Some drivers therefore circled around Parliament Hill, honking their horns. A truck driver present complained that he had been fined $1,000 for honking the horn, after being warned by officers not to. Other participants in the convoy claimed to have been dislodged from a parking lot by the police.

“When everyone is coming from everywhere, it’s going to be jam pack. There, the world will not be happy. If there are overflows, they are the ones who will have caused them, ”accused Kevin Grenier, organizer of the Côte-Nord convoy, speaking of the authorities.

The majority of demonstrators are expected this Saturday, including a large convoy from Beauce. The organizers are calling for the end of sanitary measures.

Bernard Gauthier believes that the authorities “do not keep their word”, because they would have refused that a semi-trailer without its tractor spends the night on René-Lévesque Boulevard. The vehicle was to contain food for the protesters. “We were supposed to make it friendly with food to help everyone,” he laments.

Exasperated protesters

Several demonstrators met had, unsurprisingly, against the health measures introduced by the government to unclog the health system.

Pascal Dupuis will spend the weekend here. He decided last fall to give up his job as a truck driver because of overly strict health regulations. He is doubly vaccinated.

” I did [du camionnage] for 23 years and I stopped in October, ”explains the Quebec resident met near René-Lévesque Boulevard, where the police tolerate the presence of demonstrators.

“I stopped working because of it. We couldn’t take a shower, coffee [lors des déplacements à bord de son camion]. I have my passport [vaccinal], but everything was closed”, illustrates Mr. Dupuis. He demands at the very least the lifting of the vaccine passport in Quebec. For him, the vaccination will stop at two doses.

Stéphane Bergeron came from Victoriaville. ” It is important [d’être là] because I want to take back control of my life,” he said.

“I am not vaccinated”, he adds immediately. “I grabbed it [le coronavirus] and I consider that I have as little chance of transmitting it as those who have two or three doses. I consider myself naturally immune. I am a tax payer like every citizen and I believe that I am entitled to the same advantages as other citizens,” maintained Mr. Bergeron.

Restaurateurs unconcerned

The Grande Allée was deserted at midday. A usually busy area, especially during the Quebec Carnival. “I would tell you that at the very beginning, it had decreased a little, but we have resumed a lot of reservations in the last few days, so for the moment, there is little impact on reservations. It’s going relatively well,” said co-owner of Bistro L’Atelier, Alexandre Grenier.

Two steps away, at the Louis-Hébert restaurant, the co-owner, Ianny Xenopoulos, noted a drop in traffic. “It’s quieter in terms of reservations, we’ve had cancellations from our regular customers. For hotels, I understand that people have kept their reservations. We hope that people will come. It’s still Carnival, ”he continues.

“On the side of the demonstration and the hubbub, this is not what we expected. We’re far from Ottawa, let’s say,” adds the restaurateur who also operates an inn on the same site.