![]() ![]() What is not acceptable is disrupting the motoring public on highways and commerce at the border. CTA believes such actions – especially those that interfere with public safety – are not how disagreements with government policies should be expressed. Members of the trucking industry who want to publicly express displeasure over government policies can choose to hold an organized, lawful event on Parliament Hill or contact their local MP. The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA) does not support and strongly disapproves of any protests on public roadways, highways, and bridges. Accordingly, most of our nation’s hard-working truck drivers are continuing to move cross-border and domestic freight to ensure our economy continues to function. If everyone came to the table for an honest discussion about this, rather than making political statements, it’d be better for everyone.The vast majority of the Canadian trucking industry is vaccinated with the overall industry vaccination rate among truck drivers closely mirroring that of the general public. “At the end of the day, we need more trucks on the road. In many way, Covid-19 has exposed the necessity of the trucking system as well as headwinds within the system, including a shortage of drivers. “The Canadian food system really rides on the back of a truck because of our short growing season,” he said of the C$21bn worth of food imported from the US each year, and trucks play a key role in moving it. “The supply chain is flexible, but it’s also fragile,” said Simon Somogyi, a professor at the University of Guelph who studies the food business and supply chain management. Poor weather, highway closures and staffing challenges at grocery stores have also made it difficult to get food on shelves. Some have posted pictures of empty grocery store shelves.īut experts caution that the vaccine mandate is just one part of a “perfect storm” to hit the nation’s food system. Some Canadian conservatives have spoken out against the mandate, arguing it places a burden on truckers when supply chains are already strained. The son of the former US president posted a video on social media supporting the truckers for “fighting against medical discrimination”, while the tech billionaire on Thursday tweeted: “Canadian truckers rule.”Ġ1:22 Thousands protest against Covid-19 vaccine mandates in Canada – video The Conservative leader, Erin O’Toole, who has expressed wariness to vaccine mandates in the past, said on Thursday he would meet with the truckers.īut the group have received endorsements from Donald Trump Jr and Elon Musk. “This document is largely incomprehensible and is completely divorced from our political reality,” said Davis.ĭespite such fringe ideas, which have prompted comparisons to the January 6 insurrection in the United States, the convoy has received endorsements from federal Conservative politicians, including the former leader Andrew Scheer and deputy leader Candice Bergen, who called for peaceful protest. The group claims that the leader of the senate and the governor general will sign the document to create a governing committee, which they claim would work to revoke the vaccine mandate. ![]() The group recently posted a “memorandum of understanding” to its website, saying that members plan to present it to politicians on Parliament Hill. One of the main groups behind the protest is Canada Unity, which has opposed what it says are “unconstitutional” Covid rules. The convoy highlights the way in which public health measures such as vaccine mandates have become increasingly tied to political divisions. ![]() “It’s really difficult to get a sense for how many Canadians actually support this versus how many people globally are trying to oppose vaccine mandates and the associated political objectives,” said Davis. A lot of the donations have been made anonymously and there’s very clearly some activity from foreign countries,” said Jessica Davis, a former intelligence analyst for the Canadian government and head of Insight Threat Intelligence. “It’s not really clear to me how many of those supporters donating online are actually even Canadian. One former intelligence analyst said the “speed and anonymity” of the donations has raised red flags. GoFundMe announced earlier this week it had frozen the funds until it could determine with the organizers how the money would be disbursed. The convoy, which left Vancouver earlier this week, has more than 275,000 supporters on Facebook, nearly 40,000 supporters on the encrypted messaging app Telegram and has raised C$5.5m (US$4.3m) from 70,000 donations on GoFundMe. Canada has recorded 2.93m Covid cases and 32,600 deaths from the virus. Those who are not vaccinated – who are believed to constitute less than 15% of the country’s drivers – are required to quarantine for 14 days. Earlier this month, Canada began requiring any truckers arriving from the US be fully vaccinated against coronavirus. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |