Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday February 12, 2022
Flying the Maple Leaf
After the first full week of Winter Olympic competition in Beijing, Team Canada has won a total of 12 medals: one gold, four silver and seven bronze. (The Globe & Mail)
Meanwhile, an expected protest at the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie, Ont., has police, border services, public health and politicians watching closely, fearing it could endanger people or further business woes.
Social media posts show people opposed to continued pandemic mandates have plans to bring transport trucks and crowds of people to the border crossing that connects southern Ontario to Buffalo.
Currently, protests are ongoing in border cities like Coutts, Alta., Emerson, Man., and Windsor, Ont., as rallies that started in Ottawa two weeks ago continue. (CBC)
Nobody is threatening gridlock or shutting down the U.S.-Canada border as groups are in Ottawa and at northern crossings over the past few days.
But local and out-of-town protesters are nevertheless heading for Buffalo and the Peace Bridge this weekend to show support for the growing movement against Covid-19 mandates started by Canadian truckers.
“This is bigger than masks or vaccinations,” said Penny Fay, who is helping to organize a “Convoy to Save America” from Nashville to Buffalo this weekend. “It’s about trying to control you and taking away your freedoms.”Nobody is threatening gridlock or shutting down the U.S.-Canada border as groups are in Ottawa and at northern crossings over the past few days.
Organizers hope to form another procession from Penn Station in Manhattan to the Peace Bridge that will combine with local rallies and demonstrations with speakers Saturday and Sunday in Pat Sole Park near the bridge entrance. Those behind the effort have no idea how many will show, but emphasize they have no plans to enter the international span, shut it down or disrupt traffic.
“Our plan is just a peaceful protest by a bunch of mama bears and papa bears,” Fay said. “It’s an effort to show Canada we support them. If other groups show, we want a peaceful demonstration and no problems.”
“We’re tired of the government dictating our lives,” she said. “So we will have these groups jumping on the truckers’ cause and to say we think we can manage our own affairs.”
The truck protest at the Ambassador Bridge entered its fourth day early Thursday, affecting auto production on both sides of the border. (The Buffalo News)