THUNDER BAY — A convoy organized by truck drivers opposed to the federal government's COVID-19 vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers will arrive in Thunder Bay on Wednesday.
As of Jan. 15, Canadian truckers looking to cross the border from the United States must be fully vaccinated in order to avoid a 14-day quarantine.
Several different convoys from the west and east coasts, and southern Ontario, are expected to converge in Ottawa this weekend.
The convoy from the west will arrive in Kenora Tuesday evening, then head the next day for Thunder Bay.
It's expected to be at a truck stop at Twin City Crossroads on West Arthur Street at about 4 p.m. Wednesday.
One of the organizers, Colin Valentim, said many truckers will lose their jobs because of the federal mandate.
“Being forced out of the job is going to impact every Canadian. That’s a lot of loads that can’t cross the border, which is a lot of goods that will not make it to store shelves,” Valentim told CTV News.
But the United States on Saturday also introduced a policy requiring Canadian truck drivers to be double-dosed in order to enter the US.
The Canadian Trucking Alliance, which previously expressed concern about the impact the two countries' regulations would have on already-stressed supply lines, issued a statement on the weekend criticizing this week's protest.
It said the vast majority of truckers are already vaccinated, and called for unvaccinated drivers to get their shots now that both Canada and the U.S. have implemented cross-border vaccination rules.
"This regulation is not changing, so, as an industry, we must adapt and comply with this mandate," Alliance president Stephen Laskowski said.
The CTA statement also said it disapproves of any protests that interfere with public safety, saying this is not how disagreements with government policies should be expressed.
