Page 48 - ACTL Journal Win24

THE INTERSECTION OF LAW AND POLITICS:
THE “FREEDOM CONVOY”
THE CANADA/U.S. BORDER IS THE LONGEST INTERNATIONAL BORDER IN THE WORLD, AND TRADE BETWEEN THE TWO COUNTRIES IS ABUNDANT. A GREAT DEAL OF THAT COMMERCE MOVES BY TRUCK. IN THE SECOND YEAR OF THE PANDEMIC, VACCINE MANDATES WERE IMPLEMENTED IN CANADA AND IN THE UNITED STATES. THE VACCINE MANDATE IN CANADA GAVE RISE TO A PRO- TEST, KNOWN AS THE “FREEDOM CONVOY,” THAT WAS ORGANIZED BY A SEEM- INGLY SMALL FACTION OF TRUCK DRIVERS.
The catalyst for the protest was the impending expiration of cross-border travel exemptions for unvaccinated Canadian truck drivers, set to expire on January 15, 2022. The protest initially focused on opposing the spe- cific vaccine mandate but grew to reflect a wider and deeper grievance against the government’s overall response to the pandemic, including to lockdowns, vaccine mandates, and other restrictive measures; and against the government generally.
The concept of convoy protests was not entirely new to Canada, as there had been previous similar demonstrations. But the Freedom Convoy marked a paradigm shift in terms of its scale, participation, and the depth of public grievance. The initial strategy had been to mobilize a convoy of hundreds of long-haul transport trucks and park them in front of Parlia- ment Hill in Ottawa, to demand changes in government policies. But in a short period of time, the protest grew to include thousands of pedestrian protestors. The downtown core of Ottawa was occupied by protestors, and in effect paralyzed by the occupation. Protestors proclaimed that they would not leave until all COVID-19 restrictions and mandates, trucking related and beyond, were repealed.
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