Convoy For Freedom schedules for Canadians to support them by being present on the routes to Ottawa
OTTAWA, Ontario (LifeSiteNews) — Members of Parliament (MPs) for the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC) are breaking ranks with their leader Erin O’Toole to voice their support for the thousands of Canadian truckers taking part in the “Freedom Convoy 2022” to Ottawa to protest COVID shot mandates.
On Monday, former CPC leader Andrew Scheer, who is MP for Regina—Qu’Appelle, broke his silence to show support for the convoy headed to Ottawa.
“Thank you Truckers! Trudeau is attacking personal liberty and threatening everyone’s ability to get groceries because of his overreach on vaccine mandates. He is the biggest threat to freedom in Canada,” wrote Scheer on social media.
CPC MP Warren Steinley for Regina—Lewvan posted a picture of himself with Scheer speaking with truckers on Monday.
“Nice to listen to a new trucker who sees the impacts of the Trudeau Liberals failed polices daily. He said seeing people rally behind truckers and freedom of choice has ‘made him proud to be Canadian again.’ Flag of Canada #skpoli,” wrote Steinley.
On Tuesday, Ontario CPC MP Leslyn Lewis, who ran for the party leadership in 2020, voiced her support as well.
“I’m proud of the Truckers. Peaceful protest is a cornerstone of our democracy. The liberal mandates are unscientific, vindictive, mean-spirited, and promote segregation. The people have a moral obligation to oppose unjust laws and mandates,” wrote Lewis.
CPC MP for Bow River Martin Shields said he looks forward to welcoming the truckers when they arrive in Ottawa this coming weekend.
“There is a trucking convoy headed here which I want to meet those truckers when they come here this week,” said Sheilds. “I support the trucking industry.”
CPC MP Bob Benzen for Calgary Heritage took direct aim at the Trudeau government’s “authoritarian dictates.”
“I stand with the #freedomconvoy protesting the coercive, intrusive, and authoritarian dictates of this Trudeau government. This vaccine mandate for truckers who served us over two years of the crisis is ridiculous and unacceptable.#freedomconvoy22 #freedomconvoycanada #cdnpoli,” tweeted Benzen Tuesday.
Pierre Poilievre, who is a CPC MP for Ottawa, went after the mandate last Wednesday, calling it a “vaccine vendetta” against un-jabbed truckers.
Southern Manitoba CPC MP Ted Falk called the mandates “wrong” and not “constitutional” while speaking from a trucker protest at the U.S.-Canada border last week.
Despite CPC MPs finally speaking out against mandates through their support of the freedom truck convoy, Maxime Bernier, leader of the People’s Party of Canada (PPC) and former CPC cabinet minister, reminded people they have been silent for months.
“It took 22 months for a handful of Conservative MPs to finally decide that they oppose Trudeau’s fascist covid measures and support freedom. How courageous! Without the PPC there would have been no pushback whatsoever during this whole time,” tweeted Bernier Tuesday.
Thousands of Canadian truckers from the “Freedom Convoy 2022” began their “slow roll” to Ottawa this weekend to protest draconian COVID jab mandates and rules imposed by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Canadian Premiers.
Some estimates put the total amount of truckers who will take part in the caravan at well over 50,000 trucks and more than half a million people.
The “Freedom Convoy 2022” group has raised over $5.4 million in under two weeks.
O’Toole silent, but deputy party leader supports truckers
As for O’Toole, when asked by reporters Monday about the truckers headed to Ottawa, he avoided answering the question on whether or not he would support them but instead pushed for everyone to get the COVID jabs.
“I support getting as many people vaccinated as possible, including truckers,” said O’Toole.
O’Toole did claim he has been meeting with some truckers for months, saying in an interview on CTV Power Play that he will “continue to meet this week and into the weekend with truckers and with the industry — both individual people suffering but also the industry.”
Despite O’Toole’s ambivalent answer, CPC Deputy leader MP Candice Bergen, who is from Manitoba, released a statement of support for the truckers.
“Now more than ever, our economy needs to be reopened and we need every sector working in order to recover from the pandemic. I support peaceful demonstrations against these mandates and our truckers from Portage-Lisgar and from across Canada,” wrote Bergen.
On Monday, Trudeau said the trucker rebellion amounted to “fear-mongering.”
“I regret that the Conservative Party and conservative politicians are fear-mongering to Canadians about the supply chain, but the reality is that vaccination is how we’re going to get through this,” said Trudeau.
The jab mandate for truckers was first announced on November 19, 2021, and took effect on January 15.
The U.S. government has enacted a similar mandate that took effect on January 22.
Some Canadian trucking companies have already reported driver shortages as a direct result of the COVID jab mandate for all haulers crossing the border.
And the new policy has already caused food supply issues, as well, hitting eastern Canada hard.
Pictures of empty shelves in grocery stores, especially in Ontario, are becoming common.