A convoy of huge rigs has arrived in the nation's capital after a week-long trek across Canada to protest vaccine requirements and Covid-19 regulations. Organizers claim the event will be peaceful, but police say they are bracing for a confrontation.
It's been dubbed the Freedom Convoy, and it's causing quite a stir across the country.
The action was spurred by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's Liberal government's implementation of a vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the US-Canada border earlier this month.
A loose alliance of truckers and conservative groups began organizing the cross-country drive in western Canada in response to a new regulation that would compel unvaccinated Canadian truckers crossing the border to be quarantined once they returned home.
As it passed, it gained momentum and drew support. Many supporters, who were already opposed to Mr. Trudeau and his ideas, have been dissatisfied with pandemic measures that they believe are political overreach.
There were some children with their children, as well as elderly and disabled adults among the crowd. According to The Globe and Mail newspaper, others even carried posters with hostile and obscenity-laced comments aimed primarily at Canada's prime minister.
People gathered on roadside and overpasses, frequently waving Canadian flags and signs insulting Mr. Trudeau, applauded on trucks and accompanying vehicles snaking along highways, as shown on social media and broadcast footage.
After a large-scale protest opposing COVID-19 vaccination mandates converged on Parliament Hill on Saturday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his family left their residence in the country's capital and has been transported to an undisclosed location, according to media reports