A “Freedom Convoy” of trucks were joined by thousands of demonstrators on foot Sunday to protest Canada’s COVID-19 vaccine mandates, while other truckers blocked a border highway into the United States later in the day.
During a virtual press conference on Monday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denounced abusive acts and racist imagery at the protest and said he will “not be intimidated” by those who hurl insults and abuse at small business workers and citizens.
The protests, which originally started as a protest against a COVID-19 vaccine requirement for cross-border drivers, has since developed into a demonstration against the Trudeau government and its policies.
Trudeau says he’s not “intimidated” by protesters and will not meet with trucker convoy organizers. Police in Canada have opened “several criminal investigations” into sweeping protests following reports of demonstrators urinating on the country’s National War Memorial.
The protests initially started with plans to protest a vaccine requirement for cross-border drivers but quickly shifted to broader opposition to the Trudeau government and COVID-19 vaccine mandates across the country
Specifically, police said they were investigating the alleged ‘desecration’ of the National War Memorial, as well as of a statue honoring Fox, a cancer patient and amputee who gained national fame after launching a fundraising trek across Canada in 1980 to raise money for cancer research.
Fox died of cancer in 1981 before he was able to complete the journey, but he is remembered as a national icon whose campaign has seen millions of dollars raised in his memory.
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