Ontario Provincial Police were on hand to direct traffic and keep the border accessible Sunday morning as trucks and personal vehicles lined the right-hand side of Central Ave and Kings Highway leading to the International Bridge and the border with the United States.
Truck drivers and others looking for an end to vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 precautions rallied into the afternoon. Witnesses reported over 100 cars stretching as far as Fort Frances Cemetery.
Some members of the group could be seen handing out coffee and hot chocolate to those in their vehicles as the weather was around -25 degrees Celcius. Many people stayed in their vehicles while others got out and patrolled the street with Canadian flags on hockey sticks and protest signs, while speaking with fellow protesters.
Alex Taggart is a truck driver who was there in support of other truckers and their right to choose whether or not to get vaccinated.
“I’m vaccinated, but it was my choice,” Taggart said. “I got vaccinated when everything was starting. Now, if I wasn’t vaccinated I would be unemployed so is that fair? But it’s about choice. I’ve chosen to be vaccinated for my reasons.” Taggart pointed to his friend next to him. “He’s not vaccinated but here we are, we got no problems.”
Supporter Rolf Giessler took offense to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau comparing protesters to Nazis.
“Trudeau goes around calling people Nazis, our fine friends here,” Giessler said. “My parents came from Germany. They were under Nazi Tyranny – they were a bunch of murderers and malomaniacs. There’s none of those kinds of people in Canada, except for the people at the very top.”
When the Times mentioned the instances of swastikas seen during the occupation of Ottawa, local protesters said those were few extremists among a large group.
“When you’ve got a hundred thousand people, you’re going to have your extremists,” Taggart said. “You’re always going to have your off wing, but they don’t reflect the average person.”
Taggart also says he believes truckers are looked down upon for doing blue collar work.
“When I became a truck driver, the day I got my license, I was looked down on as a second-class citizen because I was a truck driver,” Taggart said. “I’ve pulled people out of accidents, I’ve done CPR on the side of the road to try and save somebody. If that’s what makes me a terrorist than what do you do?”
The trucker also believes Trudeau and the government have vilified truckers who are important to society.
“What the federal government has said about truckers is the main reason a lot of us are here,” Taggart said. “I’m triple vaxxed, he’s not. That’s no big difference to me and him. That’s his choice, this is my choice, that’s basically all it is.”
