In the hemicycle, the president once again minimized the protest movement, which he called a “marginal and noisy minority”, and stressed that the country “overcame this pandemic united”, while “a few people shouting and waving swastikas” they do not define Canadians.
Since last January 28, the so-called “freedom convoy” has paralyzed the Canadian capital in rejection of the government’s decision to force truckers crossing the border between Canada and the United States to be vaccinated against Covid-19.
Some 400 to 500 trucks still occupy the streets of Ottawa, where a state of emergency was declared yesterday for being “out of control,” according to Mayor Jim Watson.
“People live in fear and are terrified,” the mayor said in a letter to Trudeau.
The truck drivers, who have been banned from honking their horns since Monday following a court ruling, opted for a new tactic to make themselves heard: rev up the engines of their heavy vehicles, making the air unbreathable, according to the AFP news agency.
In recent days, the protest movement has turned into a protest against the health measures as a whole and, for some, against the government.
Anti-Trudeau banners, Canadian flags, bonfires warming protesters, makeshift shelters and tents multiply on the streets of a city that has a reputation for calm.
“I do not agree with Trudeau’s way of acting or with his dictatorship,” said Martin Desforges, a 46-year-old truck driver from northern Quebec who lives with his wife in a van parked in front of Parliament since the beginning of the movement. and a few meters from the windows of the prime minister’s office.
“Getting vaccinated should be a decision made between a person and their doctor. The government doesn’t have to intervene,” said John Hawley-Wight, a protester who joined the protest two days ago.
Despite the calls for help made by the city authorities and by the Ottawa police, the Government did not make any specific announcement last night during the exceptional session in Parliament.
Meanwhile, the movement continues to spread outside the capital: the Ambassador Bridge, one of the busiest border points, which connects Windsor, in Ontario (Canada), with Detroit, in the United States, was closed on Tuesday morning due to the demonstrations.
And in the last few hours, it has inspired similar actions abroad.
In New Zealand, a convoy of trucks and mobile homes blocked the streets around Parliament in Wellington on Tuesday to protest health measures and vaccinations.
In France, thousands of opponents of the health pass announced on social media that they wanted to “roll Paris” on Saturday as part of a citizen action dubbed the “freedom convoy.”
In Canada, where sanitary measures in most provinces are more restrictive than in other parts of the world, the movement has received broader popular support than expected from the authorities.
A latest poll indicates that a third of Canadians support the movement and 44% of those vaccinated understand “the cause and the frustrations that the protesters convey.”
Source: Ambito
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