Provinces move to ease Covid rules as truckies dig in

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau — who a day earlier issued a stern warning the protests ‘had to stop’ — appeared to shift tone.

The protest continues in Ottawa on Tuesday. Picture: AFP

Truck drivers paralysing the Canadian capital in anger at Covid rules showed no sign of backing down on Tuesday, as several of the nation’s provinces announced it was time to roll back restrictions that count among the world’s toughest.

With authorities struggling to bring the protest movement to heel, Saskatchewan in the west said it was ready to lift all pandemic restrictions, with Quebec and Alberta also signalling plans to ease measures.

In the capital, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau – who a day earlier issued a stern warning that the protests “had to stop” – appeared to shift tone, saying he understood “how frustrated everyone is” and that “the time is coming when we will be able to relax”. “We’re all sick and tired of restrictions, of mandates, of having to make sacrifices,” Mr Trudeau said, adding, however, that vaccine mandates were the “way to avoid further restrictions”.

The so-called Freedom Convoy began in January in western Canada – launched in anger at requirements that truckers either be vaccinated, or test and isolate, when crossing the US-Canadian border. Having snowballed into an occupation of the Canadian capital, the protest has sparked solidarity rallies across the nation and abroad, and by Tuesday had forced the temporary closure of a key US border bridge, the busiest international land-border crossing in North America.

Amid a state of emergency in Ottawa, federal police have deployed among demonstrators waving Canadian flags and anti-Trudeau placards in protests now in their second week and fast becoming a rallying cry for far-right and anti-vaccine groups.

Briefing reporters on Tuesday, Ottawa Deputy Police Chief Steve Bell said his agents had made 22 arrests to date. “Our message to demonstrators remains the same: Don’t come. And if you do, there will be consequences,” he said.

Under light snowfall, the truck drivers have been warming themselves by open pit fires and playing street hockey.

Since a court ordered their incessant loud honking to stop, they have turned instead to revving the engines of their big rigs. Police say some of the truckers have brought their children, making any evacuation more complex — especially as some have removed their tires and others have modified their brakes to immobilise their trucks.

Protester Martin Desforges, 46, said he was determined to stay “until the end”, which organisers said would come only when all pandemic restrictions were lifted.

“I’m against wearing a mask, all distancing measures and restaurant closures,” he said.

“Getting vaccinated should be a decision between a person and their doctor,” echoed fellow protester John Hawley-Wight, “not the government.”

More than 80 per cent of Canadians aged five and up are fully vaccinated against Covid-19.

“We’re all fed up,” said Francois Legault, premier of Quebec, which announced it would lift most Covid restrictions by mid-March, with hospitalisations now trending downward. “Right now, we can take a calculated risk and finally turn the page,” he said.

Saskatchewan and Alberta announced a lifting of Covid restrictions in coming weeks, including requiring testing or proof of vaccine status for businesses and public venues – saying the “policy has run its course”.

AFP