Quebec | Heavy goods vehicles authorized to spend the night on René-Lévesque

(Quebec) The incessant sound of horns resounded in the heart of downtown Quebec City on Saturday, the culminating moment of the convoy against sanitary measures. The heavy goods vehicles on the side of the track will not move overnight while thousands of demonstrators on foot occupied René-Lévesque Boulevard for nearly a kilometer for long hours.

Fanny Levesque
The Press

Gabriel Beland
The Press

Trucks forming a large girl were still immobilized along René-Lévesque Boulevard, after night had fallen on the capital. “I’m staying here as long as it’s not settled. We’re not moving from here, ”says Charles Paquet, warm in the cabin of his truck.

A little before 10 p.m., the Service de police de la Ville de Québec (SPVQ) confirmed that the presence of the convoy at this location would be tolerated for the night. However, the police will not hesitate to take action in the event of an infraction, it was indicated in a press release. A single van, whose driver refused to yield a lane of traffic, was towed at the end of the evening.

Like thousands of other demonstrators, Charles Paquet has had enough of sanitary measures. He explains that the last few months have been particularly difficult for truckers. “We’ve had our working conditions cut off for two years. We have a hard time getting a coffee, a hard time going to take our showers. I leave for the week and I sleep in the truck, ”he told The Press, while the crowd gradually dispersed around 7 p.m. As for him, he won’t be back on the road until Sunday.

The incessant sound of horns echoed through the heart of downtown Quebec City on Saturday. A few trucks had already arrived on Thursday and Friday. But on Saturday, they began to arrive in large numbers from Beauce, eastern Quebec and even Montérégie.

The Quebec police even had to post a message on social networks to ask residents of the area to stop dialing 911 to complain about the noise.

At the beginning of the afternoon, the police forces only allowed trucks to stop on René-Lévesque Boulevard. Traffic had been restricted in this nerve center of the city, so as to authorize their presence while maintaining an access route. But the police were forced to widen the perimeter as thousands of pedestrians occupied the boulevard for almost a kilometer.

The demonstrators, including families, marched peacefully. “No to segregation” or even “90% vaccinated, 110% disgusted”, could we read on the placards of the demonstrators. Messages such as “Give some air to our young people” or “For the resumption of sports” were also posted. At the beginning of the evening, even if the crowd had changed a little, the demonstration took place in a peaceful way.

“People are doing it well, peacefully, there are families, children. As long as it goes like this, there is no problem, ”said the mayor of Quebec, Bruno Marchand, on the sidelines of the Carnival. He also assured that it would be up to the police to decide when the trucks should clear the way.

“Right now, they are there for the demonstration. Then they will have to move. Police tactics will be implemented, ”explained Mr. Marchand on Saturday.

Faced with the influx of demonstrators on foot, which was less around 9 p.m., the SPVQ decided to reopen road traffic on the two axes which had been closed during the day. A total of 11 tickets under municipal peace and good order regulations were issued on Saturday as well as 10 tickets under the Highway Safety Code, according to the latest report.

“It’s not true that you are the minority! »

One of the co-organizers of the “freedom convoy”, Bernard Gauthier, addressed the crowd gathered in front of the Parliament building shortly after noon. “I would like to salute the pseudo-minority. We meet a lot of people with children. I see distress in your eyes. It’s not true that you are the minority,” hammered the North Shore trade unionist who is nicknamed “Rambo”.

“Above all, I would like not to thank the central unions for having abandoned us,” laughed Bernard Gauthier, referring to the refusal of the FTQ-Construction to finance the convoy.

The convoy drew protesters from all walks of life, including families. “I came to denounce the people who humiliate, who despise and stigmatize the non-vaccinated in the public square. We are talking about human beings, full-fledged Quebecers, ”denounced Bruno Cossette, met in the shadow of parliament.

This veteran in Afghanistan, doubly vaccinated, came from Mauricie to ask for the lifting of the health emergency in Quebec. “It’s a cry from the heart. I ask for the end of the state of health emergency and that we restore democracy in this building, he explained to The Press. Freedom of expression in Quebec for 18 months has been a ten-lane highway that only goes one way. »

Claude Pomerleau, from Beauce, held up a sign in the colors of Éric Duhaime’s Conservative Party of Quebec. “I am 56 years old, I have voted twice in my life. I canceled my votes all the time. The last time, I voted for the CAQ, but here I am a “cacu”, as one could say, ”launched the man, who describes himself as a cuckold of the ballot box.

The Press also crossed paths with an activist from Quebec solidaire, Nicolas Pinel, who maintains that the political party refuses to listen to what these demonstrators have to say. “They don’t want to talk about it, it’s taboo. I want there to be a debate. I asked my coordination committee to collect people’s testimonies. We know that we are a minority, but they do not want to, ”he argued.

This resident of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve promises to “tear up his membership card” if he feels that the lack of debate persists. ” I want [les gens] who want to talk, let us listen to them and stop saying that they are sick, ”added Mr. Pinel, who was holding a sign asking for the lifting of the vaccine passport.

Counter-demonstrators at the rendezvous

A handful of counter-demonstrators had agreed to meet. “A horn for vaccination,” they shouted. “Yes, it is possible to be angry, to be tired, but it is unrealistic to think that we can put an end to sanitary measures immediately. It’s completely wacky. These claims make no sense, ”said Jean-Sébastien Ménard, who was there with four other counter-demonstrators.

“The population of Quebec has been united for two years, fighting against a virus. We are in solidarity with the truckers who work and who allow us to maintain a comfortable life. We are in solidarity with the hospital staff who are struggling. They are the ones who are at the front,” added the man who created the Facebook page “Observatory of conspiratorial delirium in Quebec”.