Hundreds showed support as commercial trucks and passenger vehicles left Sarnia-Lambton Thursday morning to make their way to Ottawa for a rally on Saturday.
Signs thanking truck drivers and Canadian flags were mounted to vehicles lined on Oil Heritage Road, in front of the Flying J truck stop in Wyoming, from the Highway 402 off-ramp to just before South Point Equipment.
OPP directing traffic. January 27, 2022. (Photo by Natalia Vega)
Supporters stood outside in the cold, cheering and jumping. Some people sounded air horns while others in vehicles honked as trucks went by. All the while, OPP were on hand to direct the heavy flow of traffic.
Dave Loerchner of Bayfield has been participating in rolling convoys in Sarnia this week, in a pick-up truck with a sign that read "mandates = no trucks."
Although Loerchner was only a truck driver for a brief period of time, he said he's standing with them.
"I do praise them for what they do, it's amazing. The time I did spend truck driving drove me insane just because I have to move," laughed Loerchner. "What they do is incredible with the stuff they deal with. It's a dangerous job too."
Loerchner left the truck stop Thursday morning and called Sarnia News Today from Highway 402. He said it was "heart-lifting" to see so many supporters.
"As I'm driving up the Hwy. 402, every overpass is packed. There are farmers in fields, there are people standing in ditches," he said. "It's clear that we're not a fringe minority when you look at the thousands and thousands of people who have gotten behind the Sarnia movement alone."
A spokesman with the national protest previously said truckers are fed up with COVID-19 mandates and are unifying for change.
Loerchner said vaccine mandates started with education workers and nurses but "the buck stops" with truck drivers.
"A lot of the people who are supporting the truckers are people that are everyday, normal, working people that have been waiting for an opportunity to stand up for their rights and freedoms," he said. "Nurses and doctors were mandated, teachers were mandated... and they tried to do it the ways that are acceptable as far as talking to your MPPs or unions or stuff like that. Clearly, that got them absolutely no where."
Former truck driver Steve Verberne was at the Wyoming truck stop and said he will drive with the convoy as far as Kingston.
"All mandates gone, just get back to normal," he said.
Meanwhile, Sarnia-Lambton resident Wende Fansher stood at the side of the road to cheer on passing vehicles.
Fansher said she is standing up against vaccine mandates and said although she supports those who want to be vaccinated against COVID-19, she also supports those who don't.
"I feel that our rights are being eroded. It's our right and freedom in this country in which there were two world wars fought for the freedom to make choices. I believe that this is something we have a choice to determine whether we want to be vaccinated or not."
Trucker convoy in Sarnia-Lambton. January 27, 2022. (Photo by Natalia Vega)
So far, Ottawa has resisted calls to delay the vaccine mandate or reverse it altogether.
"It's important to underline that close to 90 per cent of truckers in this country are vaccinated," said Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a media briefing on Wednesday. "The small fringe minority of people who are on their way to Ottawa, who are holding unacceptable views that they're expressing, do not represent the views of Canadians who have been there for each other."
Sarnia-Lambton MP Marilyn Gladu spoke with Sue Storr on CHOK (1070 AM/103.9 FM) Thursday morning from Ottawa. She claimed the vaccine mandate in place for cross-border truckers will not solve anything.
Gladu said she supports the movement if it remains peaceful.
"My hope is that we're going to have peaceful protests, which I support," said Gladu. "I don't approve of people blocking roadways or anything like that so hopefully, this is going to be a good sign to Justin Trudeau that there's a huge number of people who are not happy with his decisions."
OPP West Region posted on Twitter asking motorists to be patient "despite potential inconvenience related to the convoy demonstration."
"OPP request the convoy participants obey all traffic laws and behave in a manner that ensures safety for all users on the roadways," read an OPP tweet. "Participants MUST allow passage of emergency vehicles and not impede traffic flow."
The OPP encourages everyone on the roads to be patient and respectful of each other despite potential inconvenience related to the convoy demonstration. #ONHwys ^dr pic.twitter.com/Qyr9JD9yLe
— OPP West Region (@OPP_WR) January 27, 2022
Aside from potential traffic delays related to the trucker convoy, provincial police have also been responding to collisions. The eastbound lanes of Hwy. 401 were closed at Queens Line in Chatham-Kent after one person suffered critical injuries following a collision.
[video width="1920" height="1080" mp4="https://blackburnnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/convoy.mp4"][/video]