Convoy against sanitary measures | The police of Quebec too severe, according to Bernard Gauthier

(Quebec) A few hundred demonstrators from the “freedom convoy” gathered on Friday in front of the National Assembly for a second evening. If all is calm for the moment, the organizers complain about the severity of the police and 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,” he yelled at the media representatives, pointing to parliament, to the applause of the crowd. “Merdia,” shouted a man nearby.

“Who is dying here? Where do you people see a pandemic? Me, a pandemic is when the world dies around us, ”said Mr. Gauthier.

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

Only a handful of trucks

The demonstrators had gathered a stone’s throw from the National Assembly on Friday evening. Several danced to the sound of loudspeakers planted in front of the parliament. 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 in Ottawa will repeat itself, with several vehicles parked permanently.

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. What 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 the National Assembly, honking their horns. A truck driver present complained that he was 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, in reference to the authorities.

The majority of demonstrators are expected on 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. 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 put in place by the government to unclog the health system.

Pascal Dupuis will spend the weekend here. He chose this fall to give up his job as a truck driver because of too strict health instructions. He is double vaccinated.

“I did 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 that, we couldn’t take a shower, coffee [lors de ses 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 end 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 regain control over my life,” he expressed.

“I am not vaccinated”, he adds immediately. “I caught it 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 have the same advantages as other citizens,” maintained Mr. Bergeron.

Restaurateurs unconcerned

The Grande-Allée was deserted at noon. 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 is 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.

“As for the demonstration and the hubbub, it’s not what we expected, we’re far from Ottawa, let’s say,” adds the restaurateur who also operates an inn on the same site.