An American version of Canada's "freedom convoy" is gaining traction as truckers in Ottawa continue their protests of the nation's coronavirus vaccine mandates as several organizations are planning a trip in Washington this coming March.
The demonstrations in Canada have shut down several parts of Ottawa for several weeks after they initially protested against vaccine mandates. Furthermore, at least three organizations and a constellation of regional ones have announced plans to travel to Washington early next month.
US Freedom Convoy
One of the proposed convoys plans to travel from Fresno, California on March 2 and go through the I-10 interstate heading straight towards the capital, arriving on March 6. During a conference call last week, the group's lead organizer, Kip Coltrin, said that unity, solidarity, and a mindset of America were what brought the people involved together. He added that the U.S. freedom convoy wanted politicians to address various issues.
Another one of the convoys, which calls itself the "People's Convo," planned to depart in the first week of next month from California. Furthermore, the Freedom Fighter Nation, a far-right conspiracy group led by lawyer Leigh Dundas, is supporting the convoy, as per The Guardian.
On top of American right-wing activists supporting the Canadian protesters, conservative politicians have also expressed their support because they also oppose vaccine mandates and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. However, the majority of the effects of the demonstrations energize conservative politicians in the United States.
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The situation comes as lawmakers prepare for the 2022 midterm elections this November and some GOP members believe that standing with the protesters in Canada will galvanize fund-raising and voter turnout in the U.S.
Global News reported that a postdoctoral fellow at the Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford University, Samantha Bradshaw, said that the kind of narratives that the Canadian truckers and the convoy are focusing on is crucial to the upcoming U.S. elections. She argued that Republicans were taking advantage of the situation to attract more voters.
Canadian Truckers
The truckers have sent Canada into a state of emergency as they continue to affect the price of goods for Americans. Protesters have occupied streets near Parliament in Ottawa and several other major cities across the nation.
The blockades in particular have affected even people who did not live near the border between the U.S. and Canada. Each day, the freedom convoy results in hundreds of millions of dollars being lost in trade due to the border crossing being blocked.
The reason for the demonstrations is attributed to Trudeau's administration announcing that all truck drivers, both Americans, and Canadians, were required to be double vaccinated against the coronavirus by Jan. 15 before they were allowed to cross into Canada. The federal government made the decision to avoid a 14-day quarantine.
A few hundred truckers drove heavy-duty trucks and pickup trucks in Ottawa to protest the new mandate, essentially shutting down the downtown core. However, the convoy quickly grew into a noisy, horn-honking encampment that involved roughly 4,000 trucks, aggravating locals and forcing businesses to close temporarily, CNBC reported.
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