By Laura Steiner, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
A cold, snowy day did not keep Milton residents away from the highway 401 overpass along highway 25. Crowds gathered on both sides of the road to show support for a truck convoy on its way to Ottawa to protest the vaccine mandates for truckers travelling between Canada and the United States.
The mandate introduced earlier this month requires truckers from the United States to be fully vaccinated in order to enter the country. Convoys travelled across the country from as far away as British Columbia and Newfoundland, in what some are calling the Freedom convoy. The convoys are to meet in Ottawa and protest at Parliament Hill.
“We need to support the truckers because they are the heroes that stuck up for us when nobody else did,” Milton Resident Danielle Mahn said. According to Mahn they’re heroes because they’re part of the supply chain that stocks grocery store shelves with food and merchandise.
Image Credit: Rob Hewlett/ Facebook
The Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA), represents provincial trucking associations released a statement earlier this week denouncing the convoys. “The Canadian Trucking Alliance does not support and strongly disapproves any protests on public roadways, highways, and bridges. CTA believes such actions-especially those that interfere with public safety- are not how disagreements with government policies should be expressed.”
Earlier this afternoon Halton Regional Police Service reported that pedestrians had made it onto the highway on-ramp going eastbound.
Update. 401 on-ramp temporarily shut down for east bound traffic due to pedestrians on the 401. ^RD #1DRUSgt
— HRPS Milt HHills (@HRPSMiltHH) January 27, 2022
The highway was reopened a little over an hour later.
Aaron and Ann came with their seven-month old son from Mississauga. The Milton stop was the second of the day, after having met the convoy in Hamilton. Aaron believes in an end to all vaccine mandates. “The government has stepped beyond what God has set out for the government to do, and is infringing on the rights that are God-given. That’s why I’m here to protest that, and support the truckers who have done a better job of standing up for Canadians than a lot of other people have,” Aaron said. The constitution assigns the responsibility of funding healthcare to the federal government, which, happens through transfer payments to the provinces. The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) led by Dr. Theresa Tam has been advising the federal government on how to handle the pandemic at a national level.
Aaron urges Members of Provincial Parliament (MPP’s) to stand up to the Ford government. “These emergency measures that we have in place are the things keeping us in lockdown, and they’re hurting people. And it’s the that his emergency powers keep getting renewed that’s the problem,” he said. Premier Doug Ford’s emergency powers were renewed last November, and last until March under the Reopening Ontario Act.
“There’s nothing wrong with the government wanting to protect people. It’s when someone acts unilaterally that’s the problem,” he added. The Ontario Science Table, as well as the Chief Medical Officer of Health has been advising the provincial government. When informed of this, Aaron responded: “The health of any population is not merely biological,” he said.
The convoy is expected to stop in Kingston tonight, and hope to be in Ottawa on Saturday.
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