Canadian contractor Danick Venne says he joined the Freedom Convoy protests in Ottawa to help serve food, pick up trash and ‘give love to everybody.’
In the early morning hours on Friday, Ottawa’s Ambassador Bridge was quiet, with not many people in sight. Instead, the low hums of semi-trucks gently rattled the streets surrounding Canada’s Parliament.
The Freedom Convoy has gained strength and numbers since the movement started nearly three weeks ago by Canadian truckers protesting the country’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
“One of the main reasons is for kids, and also for all the injustice that we’ve been living for the past two years,” protester and contractor Danick Venne told FOX Business’ Jeff Flock.
“I’m sick and tired of people trying to tell me they can vaccinate my children without my permission,” a truck driver named David added. “I’m sick and tired of them canceling school when there’s no reason for it.”
VARNEY WARNS CANADIAN TRUCKERS: NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO INFLICT ECONOMIC PAIN
David said the campaign is bigger than truckers’ rights: “We haven’t even gotten started about the carbon tax that’s killing the trucking industry.”
FOX Business’ Jeff Flock talks to a Canadian truck driver who says the Freedom Convoy movement is more than just truckers.
Although he’s not a truck driver himself, Venne said he traveled to volunteer for the cause, providing security, food, coffee, fuel, even helping to build a tall, wooden podium so voices can be heard loud and clear.
“I come here and volunteer and give help and love to everybody,” Venne explained.
Behind Venne stood red and white painted signs that read, “Canada loves truckers,” “Freedom Heroes,” and “One Love.”
“Every time I have spare time, I go help,” Venne said. “I go serve coffee if I can, or anything I will do to help.”
While the Freedom Convoy protesters share a passionate, communal spirit, their ongoing bridge blockade is starting to create economic problems.
Ford and Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler, say the four-day standstill on the Ambassador Bridge, which connects Detroit to the city of Windsor, Ontario, will pile more problems onto an already-strained supply chain.
A truck moves after a breakthrough resolved the impasse where anti-COVID-19 vaccine mandate demonstrators blocked the highway. (Jeff McIntosh /The Canadian Press via AP / AP Newsroom)
The disruptions have even forced Ford to cut work shifts at some of its U.S. and Canadian factories.
“This interruption on the Detroit/Windsor bridge hurts customers, autoworkers, suppliers, communities and companies on both sides of the border that are already two years into parts shortages resulting from the global semiconductor issue, COVID and more,” Ford told FOX Business in a statement Thursday.
“We hope this situation is resolved quickly because it could have widespread impact on all automakers in the U.S. and Canada,” the company continued.
But the future of the Freedom Convoy remains unclear. An Ontario court Thursday froze millions of dollars in the GiveSendGo account of “Freedom Convoy 2022” on Thursday which had raked more than $10 million in donations.
The Associated Press also reported Friday that the Biden administration has urged Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to use federal powers and end the standoff.
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FOX Business’ Jeff Flock reports from Ottawa, Canada, where officials warn the trucker protests are starting to impact the supply chain.
Freedom Convoy’s lead attorney Keith Wilson called out Trudeau for characterizing the protesters as “Nazis” and a “fringe minority” Wednesday on “The Evening Edit.”
“It’s troubling that the prime minister of our country is now characterizing hardworking Canadians, who during COVID, delivered food and critical supplies, and put themselves at risk to whatever risk imposed,” Wilson said. “And now, suddenly, for political opportunism, he’s characterizing these hardworking truckers who are trying to protect their charter rights.”
FOX Business’ Breck Dumas contributed to this report.
