What Did You Do This Week-End?

Some people were rather busy:

Despite the Royal Canadian Mounted Police’s (RCMP) redoubled efforts to prevent a convoy of trucks and other vehicles from establishing a stronger presence at the Pacific Highway Border Crossing in Surrey, British Columbia, one truck managed to get through the police blockade.

On Feb. 12, an initial surge of about 20 commercial and personal vehicles had broken through the blockade before police reinforcements were quickly dispatched to halt access to the intersection eight blocks north of the border, later expanding it to 16 blocks.

The sole truck, a white Ford F-350, was immediately swarmed by police on foot to prevent the driver from advancing.

However, protesters locked arms and circled the police after a rousing singing of “O Canada,” while others cleared hundreds of people to allow the driver a narrow passage on the road leading down to the other trucks, which had crossed before the RCMP strengthened the blockade.

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As tens of thousands of Australians from all walks of life gather at the nation’s capital from across the country to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates on Feb. 12, Prime Minister Scott Morrison has pointed the finger at the state governments that “unilaterally” imposed the mandates via public health orders.

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Police moved in to clear the blockade at the Ambassador Bridge border crossing in Windsor, Ont., on Feb. 12.

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The center of Canada’s capital city was flooded on Feb. 12 by thousands of protesters demanding an end to the country’s COVID-19 mandates and restrictions.

Many more joined the ongoing trucker-led protest in Ottawa with the arrival of the weekend. Its numbers grew from the night of Feb. 11 into the next morning, as supporters seemingly poured into the city.

Greater masses of people were particularly noticeable on Parliament Hill and then later on the streets, where they spilled out from the immediate vicinity of the truck blockade.

I'm glad that there are still people who don't care what the coward from Quebec thinks:

The media lies to their viewers. No "deal" has been made. End the mandates, end the passports. That is why we are here. #Freedom #Truckersforfreedomconvoy2022 #FreedomConvoy2022 https://t.co/5uTEnm0wZ7

— Tamara (@Tamara_MVC) February 14, 2022

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Freedom Convoy organizers say they will continue to protest on Parliament Hill despite the federal government’s declaration of a state of emergency.

“We are not afraid. In fact, every time the government decides to further suspend our civil liberties, our resolve strengthens and the importance of our mission becomes clearer,” organizer Tamara Lich said on Feb. 14 in anticipation of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoking the Emergencies Act over the protests demanding an end to COVID-19 mandates.

“We will remain peaceful, but planted on Parliament Hill until the mandates are decisively ended. We recognize that there is a democratic process within which change occurs. We have never stepped outside of that process, nor do we intend to.”