After six days spent crossing Canada, a convoy that began as a protest against mandatory vaccination for truckers who travel to the United States is now set to roll into Ottawa on Saturday in time for a rally on Parliament Hill.
The event was loosely organized as a protest against the federal government’s vaccine mandates, however, it has expanded to become a much broader vehicle for people to express their outrage at the federal government and pandemic restrictions that they feel curb their freedoms.
Even more concerning are the fringe groups and individuals intent on using the vaccine mandate protest for far more sinister reasons – designed to turn a peaceful protest into a violent confrontation.
“These demonstrations are national in scope, they’re massive in scale,” Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly said on Friday, according to Reuters. “We do not know all of the parallel demonstrations that may occur and where the lone wolf individuals who may insert themselves into the mix for various reasons.”
Sloly added that teams will be videotaping “all aspects of the demonstration” and warned that anyone breaking the law will be arrested.
More truckers should be arriving in Ottawa around noon today, having taken a different route. Those truckers spent the night at a truck stop in Arnprior, Ontario, just west of Ottawa, reports CTV News Canada.
The public has been advised to stay away from the downtown area and MP’s and government staff have been advised to avoid the parliamentary precinct this weekend.
It is unknown how big the crowd attending the demonstration will get, with some estimates suggesting a minimum of a couple of thousand people, to the Parliamentary Protective Service anticipating up to 10,000 demonstrators.
The organization has now raised about 7.5 million Canadian dollars, or $5.8 million, on GoFundMe during the convoy’s travels. Of that total, one million Canadian dollars had been released as of Friday, after the organizer submitted “a clear distribution plan for funds being used to cover fuel costs of participants,” GoFundMe said in an email, reports the New York Times.
Threats of violence to overthrowing the government
Ottawa police also said they received a “direct threat” to the safety of their officers from a counter-protest source and are aware of “other groups and individuals” who may not “share the same peaceful goals.”
Sloly has noted several times over the past few days that the police department has been in direct contact with the convoy’s organizers, and interactions have been “productive and cooperative.” However, he expects there to be other “lone wolf” protesters who are not directly affiliated with the main group.
On Friday, Sloly also warned of “social media actors who may or may not actually come to the city … but who are nonetheless inciting hate, violence and in some cases criminality to take place in our city.”
Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole on Friday met with some participants of the convoy and said he supports the truckers’ “right to be heard.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday said he was concerned about the protest turning violent in an interview with the Canadian Press, and said this week the convoy represented a “small fringe minority” who “do not represent the views of Canadians.”
