Protesters opposed to vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 measures staged the latest in a series of vehicle convoys in British Columbia on Saturday, as similar convoys were staged in other Canadian cities and an entrenched demonstration in Ottawa entered its 16th day.
Saturday’s convoy in the Lower Mainland was expected to roll from Chilliwack to 8th Avenue and 176 Street in Surrey, close to the U.S. border truck crossing.
Another convoy was expected to take place through the Okanagan to Osoyoos.
Victoria police said they were also expecting traffic disruptions with “large protests” planned near the provincial legislature on Saturday, and that they had deployed temporary closed-circuit TV cameras in the area to support “public safety.”
In a press release on Friday, Trail RCMP said they were notified that the Paterson border crossing would be temporarily blockaded on Saturday, Feb. 12, from noon to 4 p.m.
The convoy planned for the Lower Mainland has already drawn concerns from the Surrey business community, with the Surrey Board of Trade warning businesses in the area to take “precautions to safeguard the exterior of your business and staff.”
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“The impact of these blockades is choking already impacted supply chains, businesses and jobs. This is an unacceptable sabotage of the economy,” board president and CEO Anita Huberman wrote to businesses.
“To be clear, everyone has a right to peacefully protest, but these types of demonstrations are impacting businesses and livelihoods.”
Convoy protesters say they are demonstrating for “freedom,” and have expressed a range of demands ranging from the end of vaccine mandates to the end of all COVID-19 restrictions to the removal of the government.
Earlier Saturday, police in Windsor, Ont., began clearing protesters from the Ambassador Bridge, North America’s busiest land border crossing. Demonstrators have been occupying the span for several days.
In Ottawa, municipal, provincial and federal officials have stated in recent days the protest occupying an area near Parliament Hill is “illegal.”
Police say they are now engaged in more than 120 criminal investigations into alleged conduct by protesters, who continue to insist they are part of a peaceful demonstration.
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