(Quebec) The organizers of the convoy against the sanitary measures of Quebec will leave the city Sunday evening, but it is only postponed: they promise a “Woodstock of freedom” in two weeks.
Posted at 10:34 a.m.
Updated at 2:12 p.m.
“We offer you something, we are going to demonstrate […] we’re going to continue all day, we’re going to leave us this evening, and we’re going to come back to close the Carnival. We have 15 days to prepare, talk to our families, our friends. We meet again in two weeks, ”said Bernard Gauthier, one of the organizers of the movement, on Sunday to a crowd gathered in front of the National Assembly.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Bernard Gauthier with demonstrators, Saturday
His sidekick, Keven Grenier, added that the demonstrators had “two weeks to raise money, warn your buddies, warn everyone”. “In two weeks it’s going to be time to release our lousse, and then it’s going to be a Woodstock of freedom, because I want people in crisis,” he said.
However, the Quebec Winter Carnival ends next week, on Sunday February 13.
The two organizers were delighted with the success of their activity, which brought together thousands of demonstrators on Saturday to oppose the health measures put in place by the Legault government to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. They also boasted of having overshadowed the Carnaval de Québec. “Heille, the Carnival guy, we got it for you”, launched Mr. Grenier to an enthusiastic crowd. He also pointed it out on social media: “Carnaval de Québec en bleu. The carnival of freedom in red. […] In the end, the Carnival guy ate a chunk of it, ”said Kevin “Big” Grenier, commenting on an aerial photo of the demonstration on Saturday.
Bernard Gauthier for his part underlined that the demonstration in Quebec had avoided excesses. “There are a lot of families who feared the breakage because the media […] had given us intentions before we arrived. I was supposed to beat Bonhomme Carnaval. Well the guy didn’t even show up in the octagon,” he said.
The figure of Bonhomme Carnaval, “the representative and king of the biggest Winter Carnival party in the world” according to his LinkedIn page, has been mentioned for several days by politicians to invite demonstrators to avoid slippages.
Prime Minister François Legault said Friday that “many tow trucks are ready” to free the trucks, if necessary, inviting Quebecers to come in large numbers to the Quebec Carnival, which opens this Friday. “Go to Carnival as a family, go to restaurants in Quebec. […] What we want is for citizens to continue to live normally,” he added.
The Minister of Public Security and responsible for the Capitale-Nationale region, Geneviève Guilbault also mentioned the Carnival. “It depends on what you mean by jamming a city, but if we intend to prevent people from circulating, prevent people from living normally, prevent children and parents from going to see Bonhomme and doing their business, I think that no, it is not acceptable”, she had said.
Tickets and towing from 5 p.m.
After the demonstration on Saturday, several trucks remained on site. Sunday morning, about forty of them were still parked on René-Lévesque Boulevard, opposite the National Assembly complex. Police were on site handing out courtesy notices. The horns were heard in all areas, however, and some peace officers wore earmuffs to protect their ears.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Police officers wore shells over their ears during the truckers’ protest on Sunday morning.
But this tolerance ends at 5 p.m., announced the Quebec City Police Service on social networks: “From 5 p.m., any vehicle immobilized in a prohibited place is liable to a fine and even a towing in order to avoid the continuation of the infringement”.