Truck convoy to pass through Toronto in protest against vaccine mandates

A convoy of transport trucks protesting vaccine mandates plans to criss-cross Canada with a stop north of Toronto next week.

The truckers are protesting the end of vaccine exemption on Jan. 15, which means truck drivers need to be fully vaccinated to avoid a two-week quarantine and pre-arrival molecular test for COVID-19 before crossing into Canada. The Liberal government announced last November the exemption for truck drivers would end mid-January.

Canadian truckers (and all non-U.S. citizens) will also be barred from entering the United States at land borders without proof of vaccination starting Jan. 22, according to U.S. Homeland Security.

CBP Releases Enforcement Details of January 22 Border Vaccination Mandate https://t.co/dVluy8fyVl pic.twitter.com/LgYu1oTuhc

— CTA (@CanTruck) January 21, 2022

A protest, dubbed "Freedom Convoy 2022" will start Jan. 22 in British Columbia, picking up more trucks along the way, with plans to arrive in Ottawa for Jan. 29, according to the Canada Unity website. The convoy passes through Toronto stopping at Vaughan Mills around noon Jan. 27.

A GoFundMe has raised more than $800,000 to support the truckers, and fundraiser organizer Tamara Lich demands the government stop all mandates.

"To our Fellow Canadians, the time for political over reach is over," she says. "Our current government is implementing rules and mandates that are destroying the foundation of our businesses, industries and livelihoods."

While this protest has gotten attention and funds, they actually represent a minority of truck drivers.

The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) does not support the protest suggesting anyone opposed to the policies should lawfully protest on Parliament Hill.

"CTA believes such actions – especially those that interfere with public safety – are not how disagreement with government policies should be expressed," they said in a press release.

The CTA told the Globe and Mail more than 80 per cent of truckers are vaccinated and that the protesters are a small group of drivers are in news for their refusal to join the civil part of civil society.