If you look at the news at all, you might have heard something pertaining to Canada, truckers, and controversy. But what exactly is happening? The event is being called the Freedom Convoy 2022, and here’s a simplified breakdown of what it’s all about
In short, the convoy is a protest in Canada regarding vaccines. Until January 15, 2022, truck drivers that made deliveries between the United States and Canada were given exemptions for COVID-19 regulations (the American side of this ran out on January 22). After that date, they were no longer subject to exemption, which meant many drivers now needed to be vaccination if they wanted to keep their jobs. According to the Canadian Trucking Alliance, this decision affects approximately 15% of the trucking workforce, or about 26,000 drivers. Many of them were unhappy about this, and an organized rally took place in Ottawa.
The protests have drawn the disdain of much of the public, however. Their behavior has been compared to American right wing protests, claiming self-freedom over the safety of the public, calling the government mandates unconstitutional, and many calling for a complete government overthrow as a result. Some of the protesting went illegal, including desecrating the Terry Fox National War Memorial and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, along with physical attacks on emergency service vehicles.
The CTA reported that many of the protestors were not truckers, implying that the event was latched onto by extremist fringe groups.
“[A] great number of protestors [with no connection to the trucking industry] have a separate agenda beyond a disagreement over cross border vaccine requirements.”
There have been various claims that many of the protestors are groups and organizations associated with white nationalism, racism, Islamophobia, Q-Anon and other conspiracy theories, and far-right groups, including those who promote violence.
We do not support the Convoy Protests. While we do believe that both the right to choose your own medical decisions and the right to protest are important to holding a free nation, this is not the right way to go about it. Just like how we are free to decide whether we want a vaccine, businesses and organizations are free to not employ us for making that choice. That’s how freedom works. Kicking and screaming when you can’t have it both ways only makes you look like an ass to the public. And in turn, it makes your position sound less like valid concern and more like immature lashing. And to be honest, given the evidence of outside groups, we suspect this is being done intentionally to undermine the people’s voice.