Canadian Trucking Alliance denounces trucker protests against vaccine mandate

The federation representing truckers across Canada has condemned the “Freedom Convoy” headed to Ottawa in protest of the vaccine mandate for truckers.

In a statement released on Saturday, the Canadian Truck Alliance (CTA) said it “does not support and strongly disapproves” of protests on public roadways, highways and bridges.

“Such actions – especially those that interfere with public safety – are not how disagreements with government policies should be expressed,” the statement reads.

Canadian Trucking Alliance Statement on Road/Border Protests https://t.co/DQMB121Csf

— CTA (@CanTruck) January 22, 2022

Truckers began their journey to Ottawa yesterday. The hashtags #FreedomConvo2022 and #TruckersForFreedom were trending with people tweeting photos of the convoy on the road.

As of January 15, all cross-border truck drivers must be fully vaccinated. Canadian truck drivers need to meet pre-entry, testing, and quarantine requirements, while foreign national truck drivers who are not fully vaccinated will be directed back to the US.

“The Government of Canada and the United States have now made being vaccinated a requirement to cross the border. This regulation is not changing so, as an industry, we must adapt and comply with this mandate,” stated CTA president Stephen Laskowski. “The only way to cross the border, in a commercial truck or any other vehicle, is to get vaccinated.”

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The CTA also emphasized that a vast majority of the Canadian trucking industry is vaccinated with “the overall industry vaccination rate among truck drivers closely mirroring that of the general public.”

These protests come as supply chain issues affect industries across Canada.

As of today, a gofundme has raised over $3 million to support the convoy’s trip to Ottawa.