(Quebec) One of the organizers of the convoy for Quebec was pleased on Saturday that this second weekend of demonstration against sanitary measures is taking place in a generally peaceful manner and is now asking “a return of elevator” to the government.
Posted at 12:12 p.m.
Updated at 2:58 p.m.
“We didn’t brew anything. We are here peacefully. It’s been twice that we’ve done it despite the media planting us and crashing into us. I hope that we will have a return of lift from the government, ”launched Bernard Gauthier to a crowd of a few thousand people massed on Saturday in front of the National Assembly of Quebec.
“I want to congratulate the warriors in Ottawa,” added the one who calls himself “Rambo”, without specifying whether he was referring to the demonstrators or the police who are trying to dislodge them in the federal capital.
The organizers of the convoy were not satisfied with the relaxation of health measures announced by the government of François Legault.
They are against the maintenance of the obligation for students to wear the mask at school and they fear that the vaccine passport, the use of which will be completely abandoned as of March 14, will be imposed again. They demand an end to the health emergency. Some organizers have called for the Prime Minister’s resignation.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Largely peaceful
Although they originally announced that they wanted to jamming Quebec, the demonstrators once again followed the instructions of the police on Saturday. The Service de police de la Ville de Québec (SPVQ) established strict rules for trucks, which could only park in a few specific places.
The police force refuses to reveal its tactical plan, but it is probable that the tens of trucks arrived Saturday in Quebec will not be able to remain on the spot several days, as it happened in Ottawa. When the “freedom convoy” first came on February 5, the Quebec police had asked all the trucks to leave on Sunday.
The SPVQ counted three arrests around noon. “The majority of the demonstrators respect and honor their agreement to want to demonstrate peacefully”, indicated the police force.
The crowd present is difficult to assess, since the demonstrators and their vehicles occupy a large area and are not concentrated in one place. The SPVQ does not provide an estimate and the organizers refuse to speak to the media.
It was certainly a few thousand demonstrators who converged on the National Assembly on Saturday. A demonstration is also planned for Sunday.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, THE CANADIAN PRESS
Bernard Gauthier shakes hands with a protester.
Protesters gathered in front of a stage at the Fontaine de Tourny. The crowd was dancing and stuffed animals were even distributed.
The placards of the demonstrators carry various messages. Several denounce the wearing of masks by children, others the media, or even the “Nazi passport”, a comparison to the Nazi regime.
“We are here for the children who have to wear a mask at school,” said Sébastien Houde, a truck driver from the Drummondville region.
He and his friend Éric Leblanc made the trip in a school bus. “I saw children enter the bus and they had forgotten their mask and in their eyes there was terror. They live in fear,” explained Mr. Leblanc, himself a school bus driver.
Mr. Houde assures us that he is not anti-vaccine. But adds that he fears for the safety of the children who receive him. He also doubts the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“In Africa they know what a pandemic is. A pandemic is when there are mass graves and piles of dead people. It’s just lies,” he said.
The organizers of the “freedom convoy” do not grant interviews and disapprove of the work of the media. Bernard Gauthier, crossed Saturday noon by The Press, simply ignored our interview requests.