The 70-km-long “Freedom Convoy” currently making its way across the Canadian province of Ontario after traversing the continent is attracting a global audience including celebrities, business giants and internet personalities alike.
The convoy is driving to Canada’s capital, Ottawa, to protest a vaccine mandate on cross-border truckers that was put into force on Jan. 15 by the Trudeau government. Reportedly, the participants intention is to occupy the Canadian capital until the vaccine mandate is lifted or Trudeau resigns.
The mandate requires Canadian truckers to quarantine if unvaccinated against COVID-19 when crossing the border into Canada. Unvaccinated or partially-vaccinated non-Canadian truckers are being turned away from the Canadian border if they are unable to show proof of vaccination or a valid medical exemption.
The convoy has attracted the attention of business tycoon Elon Musk. On Jan. 27 the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX tweeted, “Canadian truckers rule” and followed up the tweet with another stating, “CB radios are free from govt/media control.”
The initial tweet garnered over 384-thousand likes and was retweeted some 71-thousand times.
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A twitter user, Jay Vasantharajah, responded to Musk’s tweet, “Government overreach is getting out of control. Anyone that doesn’t see what the problem is here has never experienced abuse at the hands of a government,” to which Musk responded, “Freedom is being stripped away one piece at a time until it is gone.” Vasantharajah’s tweet garnered over 11-thousand likes and Musk’s response in excess of 54-thousand.
Joe Rogan, podcast giant, comedian and UFC enthusiast, dedicated some time on one of his recent podcasts to discuss the convoy stating “[Canada] is in revolt.”
“It’s a giant convoy of trucks, that’s apparently some insane amount of people, like 50-thousand trucks that are headed to Ottawa to protest the vaccine mandates by Trudeau,” Rogan said on his podcast.
British actor, comedian and YouTube celebrity, Russel Brand dedicated an entire video to discussing the convoy. He asked his 4.78 million subscribers on YouTube, “I got trucking on my mind. There’s a great big convoy trucking across Canada. Truckers, who were previously regarded as heroes, when they were delivering vital goods and working during the lockdown, are now villains as they protest vaccine mandates. So why is no one in the mainstream media talking about it?”
Brand asserted that when researching the topic he was unable to find any mainstream media sources reporting on the convoy.
Tim Pool, an independent journalist who airs a popular YouTube podcast on a near daily basis, dedicated an entire evening’s live stream to discussing the convoy and tangent issues.
“Truck drivers are protesting over vaccine mandates causing a delay for those who are trying to cross the U.S.-Canadian border near Manitoba,” Pool said adding that, “You know truckers I think often get overlooked when we discuss the most important jobs in this country. We often hear about first responders, police, firefighters, military men and women and while those jobs are extremely important … If truckers, for one day just don’t show up for work, basically the entire country shuts down.”
The hashtag #TruckersForFreedom2022 was in the number one trending position in Canada on Twitter on Friday morning, as truckers begin to trickle into Ottawa. Similar hashtags including #ConvoyForFreedom2022 and #TruckersConvoy2022 have been trending all week.
Canadians are gathering by the thousands and braving harsh winter weather to line overpasses and trucking routes in support of the convoy.
