REPORTAGE
For the past 13 days, Canadian truck drivers have been conducting an unprecedented slingshot in Ottawa
and in other cities of the country. There are between 400 and 500 of them, in their trucks, protesting against the health measures imposed by the government. A protest movement launched to protest the vaccination requirement of Canadian truck drivers to cross the border with the United States. The event quickly expanded to all measures to combat Covid-19
, from the vaccine to the wearing of the mask, which is considered liberticide.
Some concessions in some states
Faced with the scale of the mobilization, the Canadian government began to make concessions. For the first time since the introduction of new restrictions related to the Omicron wave, Quebec has confirmed a detailed schedule of upcoming relief. Some provinces have announced new reliefs: Saskatchewan and Alberta will even give up the vaccine passport, believing that “the benefits no longer outweigh the costs”.
A victory for these protesters, but that is not enough according to Simon Vallée, one of the leaders of the movement. He would like to see all Covid-19-related measures repealed. The lorry left Stanstead on 28 January. His truck is parked on one of the streets of Ottawa, where he arrived among the first. He is waiting for the announcement of the end of the restrictions to lift the camp, even if he sacrifices his livelihood: “This is something that was close to my heart.”
Owner of his truck, this protest blocks any entry of money for Simon Vallée for whom the game is worth the candle, as he explains: “My truck does not work, I have debts, but I don’t care.”
Truck horns silenced
Since Monday evening, in order for the city to regain a certain sonic peacefulness, horns have been banned after a court decision. “We are still blocking the streets but we are not as noisy as we were before,” adds Simon Vallée. And for good reason, some of these truckers decided to make their voices heard in another way: to make the engines of their trucks whirr, making the air unbreathable.
In front of Simon Vallée’s truck, a mailbox is laid, in which letters of support can be put. There is no shortage of support: almost a third of Canadians support the movement and 44% of those vaccinated understand “the cause and the frustrations conveyed by the protesters”.
