By Don Urquhart, Times-Chronicle
Main Street Oliver and Osoyoos erupted into a deafening cacophony of blaring horns Sat. afternoon as one of the so-called ‘freedom convoys’ rolled through the two towns. Starting in Vernon and organized through social media, the convoy was ostensibly protesting federally mandated vaccinations for cross-border truckers.
In Osoyoos, the final destination of the drive, approximately 80-100 people lined the street in front of Town Hall waving Canadian flags, holding up placards and cheering anybody that honked their horn. These cheers grew to a roar as the first big rigs of the convoy passed the buoyant crowd at around 2 p.m.
Nearly a dozen big rigs, dump trucks and even a logging truck or two were on hand, accompanied by an estimated three or four dozen pickups and cars, all decked out with Canadian flags.
The contingent made several loops up and down Main Street garnering steady cheers of support each time from the crowd that spanned the age groups united by almost the same thing.
Banners, quite a number sporting profanities, covered everything from calls for freedom in choosing whether or not to get vaccinated, to outright covid-19 denial, purported dangers of the vaccines, calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to be removed from office, and warnings of tyranny and even communism.
The convoy making its way through Oliver on Main St. Tracy Sim photo.
Speaking to a number of the protesters as to why they were attending it was clear not everyone was entirely on the same page.
The event, much like the national one focused on Ottawa, appears to have morphed into a catchall for unhappiness over all things COVID-19 especially how it has and continues to be handled.
The various vaccine mandates including for health care workers, federal employees, and truckers for instance was a key theme. Some of the participants decried what they see as an infringement on individual rights and freedoms whereas others argued it is a step away from tyranny and perhaps communism.
The convoy supporters were unfazed when reminded that the requirement for cross-border truckers to be vaccinated was also mandated by the United States a month before the Canadian government announced it.
Convoy supporters hold up placards with various Covid-19-related complaints. Don Urquhart photo.
The vaccines themselves were a hot issue for many, with a whole range of viewpoints expressed from questions over efficacy to what they see as the potential harm the vaccines cause, as well as complaints about vaccine passports.
And of course, there were the outright COVID-19 deniers who expressed earnest viewpoints around the legitimacy of the pandemic itself.
The Federal Government, in particular Trudeau, took virtually all of the heat with nary a word uttered about provincial politicians and health authorities even though the majority of health orders are provincially determined, including some of the vaccine mandates.
National convoy organizers in Canada want Trudeau to drop the vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the Canada-U.S. border. However, the Canadian Trucking Alliance does not support the protest, saying the majority of the Canadian trucking industry is vaccinated.
