Canada Prepares for Trucker Protest as Anti-Vaccination Convoy Approaches Capital

Tensions are heating up in Canada as a trucker convoy protesting against a vaccination mandate approaches the capital. Additionally, thousands of truckers across the country have blocked roads, with some media outlets reporting that Canadians are already facing delivery delays.

Hundreds of trucks are expected to arrive in Ottawa from British Columbia on Saturday, 29 January, and start a protest against the introduction of vaccination passports outside the nation's parliament.

According to some media outlets, the total number of trucks may reach 50,000. Posts on social media claim that 500,000 protesters are planned to gather in the Canadian capital.

The rally has received support from conservative politicians and other Canadians who oppose mandatory vaccination. A fundraising campaign on GoFundMe has even been organised to help the truckers, but the money collected has been blocked over many of the donations coming in anonymously.

"It's not really clear to me how many of those supporters donating online are actually even Canadian. A lot of the donations have been made anonymously and there's very clearly some activity from foreign countries", Jessica Davis, a former intelligence analyst for the Canadian government and head of Insight Threat Intelligence, told The Guardian.

One of the main groups in the endeavour is Canada Unity, who has prepared a "memorandum of understanding" that is planned to be presented to politicians on Parliament Hill. The document's main demand is the abolishment of the vaccine mandate.

It just doesn’t end!!! @BezirganMocha pic.twitter.com/grsC3XOIVS

— Selene Galas (@Selenecxliv) January 28, 2022

Meanwhile, the convoy has been criticised by Canada's Liberals, who called the protest "unacceptable". Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Wednesday that the truckers and their supporters "do not represent the views of Canadians", calling them a "fringe minority of people".

The protests have also been blasted by Canadian transport companies, who said that the demonstration would significantly increase the cost of transporting goods and inflation, which is at a 30-year high.

Since 15 January, the Canadian authorities have introduced vaccination passport requirements for truckers who cross the border with the United States, who introduced the same rules on 22 January. The rule was said to have left 32,000 individuals, or 20 percent of the 160,000 Canadian and American cross-border truck drivers without work, according to The Independent.