Truck drivers are making their way across Canada this week in what may be the largest convoy ever recorded as part of a massive protest against COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
A spokesman for the effort, dubbed Freedom Convoy 2022, told the Toronto Sun that the caravan is 70 km (43.5 miles) long.
“I have seen footage from an airplane,” Benjamin Dichter said. “It’s impressive.”
The Freedom Convoy departed Vancouver for Ottawa on Sunday to push back against the Canadian government’s vaccine mandates for truckers, which went into effect on Jan. 15. Fox News reported that the Canadian Trucking Alliance believes about 15 percent of Canadian truckers – roughly 16,000 drivers – are not fully vaccinated.
Bernie Spofforth shared video of a massive convoy moving through wintry conditions and quipped that Ottawa will soon become “the world’s biggest truck stop.”
“50,000 trucks,joined by trucks from the US and 1.5 million people will demand an end to Covid discrimination and Trudeau’s tyrannical grip,” she tweeted. “We stand with you.”
Laurence Fox tweeted video showing the protest isn’t just taking place on the roads — thousands of Canadians have show their support for the effort on foot, waving flags and cheering on the convoy from overpasses.
“Looking forward to to seeing the look on @JustinTrudeau’s face when this ‘small, fringe minority’ arrive at his front door. #TruckersForFreedom2022 #TruckerConvoy2022,” he wrote, mocking Trudeau’s comments.
Another photo posted by Fundamental Freedoms on Twitter shows Canadians cheering on the convoy.
If the convoy successfully arrives in Ottawa on Saturday, it could be ten times longer than the current world record.
“The largest parade of trucks consisted of 480 trucks and is achieved by Tahya Misr Fund (Egypt), in Cairo, Egypt, on 20 November 2020,” Guinness World Records website states. “With a length of 7.5 km, Tahya Misr Fund was able to organize a parade of 480 trucks, amid the harsh weather and heavy rain, breaking the Guinness World Records title for the largest parade of trucks, which was achieved 16 years ago in the Netherlands with a parade size of 416 trucks.”
A number of prominent cultural figures around the world have come out in support of the truckers’ cause, including billionaire Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk and actor and podcast host Russel Brand.
“Canadian truckers are protesting all across their country. Why are the mainstream media not reporting it? For one thing, it will be in the Guinness world book of records if it is the biggest ever convoy ever and that itself is a pretty good news story,” Brand said.
“Here’s to the Canadian truckers! Here’s to standing up for freedom! Here’s to unique ways of protesting and ensuring voices that can’t be heard inside the system are heard elsewhere,” he added.
Elon Musk tweeted, “Canadian truckers rule.” He also wrote that “CB radios are free from govt/media control.”
Despite the record-breaking numbers, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said those taking part in the massive protest make up a “small fringe minority who are on the way to Ottawa who are holding unacceptable views.”
“What we are hearing from some people associated with this convoy is completely unacceptable,” he added, as reported by Fox News.
