Thu 10 February 2022:
As Canadians’ frustration with the occupation of their national capital grows, protests echoed throughout the world on Wednesday, this time in France, where hundreds of trucks and cars drove from southern France to Paris to express their displeasure with the country’s vaccination policies.
The Ottawa protests, which were planned by loosely organized groups of truck drivers and protestors opposed to vaccination mandates for truckers travelling into Canada from the United States, have sparked similar convoys in New Zealand and Australia. There are also rumors that a third is in the works in the United States.
On social media, far-right and anti-vaccine groups from around the world have magnified the message of the Canadian demonstrators, garnering millions of dollars in online campaigns.
In just a few days, the primary Facebook group for French demonstrators grew to almost 300,000 members. The movement is known as “Convoi de la Liberté,” which is a direct translation of the Canadian movement’s slogan, “Freedom Convoy.”
The presence of more than 400 trucks obstructing highways in Ottawa continued to cause havoc. On Tuesday night, residents were relieved when the truck drivers, for the second night in a row, refrained from blasting their air horns, a method of protest that had been banned by a court order on Monday afternoon.
A road roadblock in Windsor, on the other end of the province, continues to prohibit trucks from crossing the Ambassador Bridge between the city and Detroit, preventing them from entering Canada. The automobile industry relies on the bridge.
On Wednesday, truck protesters were still obstructing another border crossing between Alberta and Montana in western Canada.
The demonstrators in Ottawa converged on the city about two weeks ago, but law police has yet to devise a strategy for retaking the city from the trucks. It has also emboldened critics of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his response to the pandemic.
The city of Ottawa’s police chief, who declared a state of emergency on Sunday, has promised to put an end to the protests, but says 1,800 additional officers are needed to do so. Hundreds of Royal Canadian Mounted Police have been mobilized to assist Ottawa police officers, according to Trudeau on Twitter.
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