Amid honks and loud engines, St. Albert residents Erik, Courtney, and their children Jack and Ben vanVeen stood atop the overpass on St. Albert Trail to watch a convoy of trucker’s circle Anthony Henday Drive on Saturday.
“[We thought] it would be cool for [Jack] to be able to experience some life and have a fun time out on the bridge and get to see a whole bunch of honking semis,” said Erik.
On Jan. 29, people and trucks from across the province gathered in Edmonton and around the Henday to show support for a national convoy of truckers and people opposed to cross-border vaccine mandates who had gathered for a rally at Parliament Hill in Ottawa that same day.
The protest was held between 1 and 3 p.m. at the Alberta legislature in Edmonton, but trucks circled Anthony Henday Drive well into the evening. Edmonton police have estimated the crowds at the Legislature Grounds peaked at 9,500 people.
"Our best estimates on vehicles was 3,000-5,000 vehicles spread between various convoys travelling around the Henday, Whitemud, Yellowhead Trail, and driving into the downtown core," wrote Cheryl Voordenhout, a representative from Edmonton Police Service, in email to The Gazette.
Organizer Emmalee Ganter said the protest had nothing to do with the vaccine and everything to do with many people feel like they don't have a voice or rights to their own opinions, or choices.
Ganter said a lot of them wanted to be in Ottawa, but couldn’t.
“We wanted to go hold ground in all of our large cities across Canada, to show our support to them to let them know that it's not just them fighting for us,” she said.
Erik said his family is and isn’t attached to the movement, as there are many different aspects to it; however, they do want to see life go back to normal.
“We have so many people … across the country [who are] vaccinated. They promised, ‘Oh, yeah, we all go get vaccinated and then we get back to normal life.’ And we're like, ‘Where's our normal life?’” he asked.
When it comes to health restrictions, Courtney said some of them don’t make sense to her. In church, they have to sit on a pew by themselves, but they can go to someone’s house after church and share a meal together.
“It seems like we have illogical rules compared to a lot of science and it just doesn't jive,” said Erik.
Erik said he understands that Premier Jason Kenney and the rest of the leaders are in a tough spot.
“They're stuck between a rock and a hard place, because it's such a polarizing issue. Everyone has different ideas on what we should be doing,” he said.
St. Albert residents Tyler Holden, Jade Vencharsky, and Delton Anthieren sat along the edge of the Ray Gibbon Drive overpass and waved at trucks along the Henday. Both Anthieren’s father, who drives a water truck, and his brother took part in the convoy.
“We're all pretty sick of vaccines, and just [with all the] restrictions everything everyone’s just fed up with it now,” said Anthieren.
Vencharsky said there should always be a choice.
Rachelle, Brielle, and Malia Turcotte and Jeremy Aucoin were also on the Ray Gibbon Drive overpass. They held a Canada flag over the bridge in support of the convoy.
Rachelle said they were there to show support for freedom and to end the mandates. She brought her children out for the experience.
Aucoin said he is frustrated by health restrictions and how they change based on the situation.
His kids must wear a mask all day at school, but when he is watching tennis in Australia, no one is masked.
They are hopeful the protest will end the health mandates.
“I just think it's nice that considering everything this country's going through not even just COVID, just in life in general, seeing people come together is just kind of nice. It's been a long time since people came together,” said Aucoin.
Not everyone wants to see mandates end, however. An Ipsos poll conducted on behalf of Global News showed 71 per cent of those polled agreed with the statement, “We need to slow the spread of Omicron to prevent hospitals from being overwhelmed, even if this has the effect of prolonging the pandemic and health measures/restrictions."
The poll also showed one in five people may never be comfortable living without masks or vaccine mandates.
Despite reports from Ottawa Police that confrontations and the need for de-escalation have regularly been required at the Hill, Voordenhout said there were no arrests or damages reported to Edmonton police, only serious traffic delays that cleared up downtown around 6 p.m. Saturday.
Another protest for the Edmonton area is being planned for Feb. 5.
