Metro Vancouver truck convoy draws large turnout

Crowds waving Canadian flags lined streets and gathered on highway overpasses Saturday, as a long convoy of honking trucks and cars rolled through Metro Vancouver and the the Fraser Valley.

The rally in support of truckers in Ottawa - who are protesting COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other pandemic restrictions - began in Langley before travelling through downtown Vancouver and eventually to a truck stop in Chilliwack.

“What I see is people of Canada waking finally up,” said one demonstrator from the Willingdon overpass in Burnaby.

“We are all vaccinated. What else do you want?”

Police kept a close eye on protesters in downtown Vancouver, who were boisterous but peaceful.

“All these mandates have to end now,” said demonstrator Rick Thomas. “Cease and desist all these restrictions, so we can have our businesses open up again.”

There were varying opinions among the crowds on the severity of the pandemic. Some believe it is no worse than the flu, and point to their own research. Others said COVID-19 was much more serious.

But they were all adamant that vaccines should not be mandated.

“It is my right as a mother to not put an experimental mRNA vaccine into my children’s bloodstream until I know it’s safe, 10 to 15 years,” said Vancouver resident Odessa Orlewicz.

“It doesn’t make us racist, it doesn’t make us misogynists.”

Other similar rallies took place in cities across British Columbia and Canada.