A Freedom Convoy of Canadian truckers is poised to be the largest truck convoy in world history as thousands of truckers travel to the capital city of Ottawa to peacefully protest the federal government’s Covid-19 vaccination and mask mandates.
“It’s 70 km long,” said Benjamin Dichter, spokesman of the Freedom Convoy. “I have seen footage from an airplane.”
It is estimated that over 50,000 Canadian trucks from all over the country are driving in the convoy.
According to Guinness World Records, the largest truck convoy in history was made up of 480 trucks in Cairo, Egypt spanning 7.5 km long in 2020.
If the 2022 Canadian Freedom Convoy stays together like it has been, it will be 10 times larger than the world record.
While truckers protest, thousands of Canadians have been lining the streets with support, holding signs and cheering from overpasses as others feed truck drivers in their homes and restaurants.
Canadian truckers are protesting the federal government’s vaccination and mask mandates, saying that it will create driver shortages and raise inflation.
Although Canadian officials dropped the mandate for truckers earlier this month, the country is still enforcing it for U.S. truck drivers who cross the border to deliver goods.
The Canadian trucking industry also accounts for more than two-thirds of goods traded between the U.S. and their country, and a trucker shortage will be detrimental for truck drivers, the supply chain, citizens, and the economy.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau dismissed the largest truck convoy in history as a “small fringe minority,” attacking the truckers for holding “unacceptable views” that “do not represent the views of Canadians.”
Trudeau also claimed the truckers and conservatives were “fear-mongering to Canadians about the supply chain.”
Media outlets and Big Tech companies are also reportedly trying to censor and cover up the grassroots protest.
A GoFundMe page for the truckers had surpassed six million dollars, which was raised to help them pay for food, fuel, and lodging. However, it was allegedly frozen by GoFundMe.
The Freedom Convoy is scheduled to arrive in Ottawa on Saturday to protest in the capital city. According to Ottawa police, organizers told them the protest will be “a significant and extremely fluid event” that could go on “for a prolonged period.”
Canada has levied some of the most strict Covid-19 mandates in the world. Ontario is currently locked down and will only open its restaurants, gyms, and theaters for the vaccinated at the end of this month. Canadian workers were also federally mandated to be fully vaccinated, and residents who are not will be penalized.