Its supporters are describing it as the ‘Freedom Convoy’, and claim it is breaking the world record for the longest chain of truckers in history. Now they seem to have Tesla founder Elon Musk as a supporter.
Canadian truckers rule
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 27, 2022
The convoy, protesting the Canadian vaccine mandate for cross border truckers, has captured public attention since it left from Vancouver for Ottawa last Sunday. The convoy is expected to reach the Canadian capital tomorrow.
“It’s 70 km long,” Benjamin Dichter, spokesman for the Freedom Convoy 2022, told the Toronto Sun. “I have seen footage from an airplane. It’s impressive.”
Estimates of the number of trucks and vehicles taking part have ranged from thousands to tens of thousands but no number has been independently verified.
“Thousands of Canadians have lined the route, cheered from overpasses and offered to feed drivers in their homes and restaurants. It’s a grassroots demonstration that has become far bigger than anything organizers had envisioned.”
Trucks from the US go and join Canada! pic.twitter.com/ZPX0FONkGL
— Frank Ho (@W911) January 26, 2022
The public support for the truckers certainly appears to be growing with more than 6 million Canadian dollars raised on a Go Fund Me campaign to assist the convoy.
Trudeau may have to redefine what a “small fringe minority” is…
It’s stretching from Manitoba to Ontario!
#TruckersForFreedom2022 pic.twitter.com/n90afOqUOU— Rob Schneider (@RobSchneider) January 27, 2022
Canadian trucker part of the freedom convoy shares a video of supporters cheering them on in Langley, BC, Canada.
The truck convoy is making its way to Ottawa to partake in a protest next weekend against mandates. pic.twitter.com/O8ppz1ZB5T
— Marie Oakes (@TheMarieOakes) January 23, 2022
The gathering support is seen by some as a rebuke to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who accused participants of the protest of being a “small fringe minority who are on the way to Ottawa who are holding unacceptable views.”
The Canadian Trucking Alliance estimates that roughly 15% of truckers in the country are not fully vaccinated, or about 16,000 truck drivers.
Speaking to US commentator Tucker Carlson, Dichter said that the truckers were protesting what they saw as authoritarian measures.
Thousands of truckers in Canada have formed a convoy to protest the country's vaccine mandates. pic.twitter.com/vFmr9GrDyC
— Tucker Carlson (@TuckerCarlson) January 28, 2022
Musk also had a comment on lost freedoms in the pandemic.
Freedom is being stripped away one piece at a time until it is gone
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 27, 2022
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