Truckers 'slow-rolling' on Perimeter, through city, in protest of mandates

A group of local truck drivers is circling the City of Winnipeg on the Perimeter Highway Monday morning and is expected to drive through the city and past the Manitoba Legislature.

The "Freedom Convoy 2022 Manitoba" is taking place a day ahead of the arrival of a national convoy that's expected to arrive from western Canada on its way to Ottawa protesting vaccine mandates for truck drivers crossing the Canadian/U.S. border.

The Manitoba truckers started in Morris, Man. at approximately 9 a.m. By 11:30 a.m. they were reported to be on the North Perimeter near Highway 8. Once truckers reach Portage Ave. on the West Perimeter they're expected to head into the city along Portage Ave. to Broadway St. passing by the legislative building, and then making its way to Main St. and heading south down St. Mary's Rd. to the South Perimeter.

Both the U.S. and Canadian governments have issued mandates that truck drivers entering into either country must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The Canadian Trucking Alliance says that the "vast majority" of truckers are vaccinated, however many drivers have voiced opposition to being mandated to take the vaccine.

The Winnipeg Police Service says that motorists should expect delays in the city until at least 1 p.m. and to avoid the routes the convoy is taking.

Motorists, we anticipate a convoy of trucks to roll through Winnipeg between 11 a.m. & 1 p.m. Expect traffic delays along the route, which begins on Portage at the West Perimeter & heads east. It carries through to Broadway & the area near the Leg. Avoid the route if possible.
— Winnipeg Police (@wpgpolice) January 24, 2022

Last Monday truckers joined in another slow-roll convoy along Highway 75 near the Emerson border crossing. One of the truckers involved in that protest, Joe Janzen of Smoke N' Transport in Morden, Man., says the protests are about freedom of choice.

"It's not the matter of being vaxxed or unvaxxed," says Janzen. "It's a matter of having a choice to not or do it, right? The freedom is gone. Quebec is taxing or fining people, right? (Prime Minister) Trudeau stated that this is what's gonna happen, right? Well, whatever happened to freedom of choice? This is what this is about. Freedom of choice. The choice is gone, right? We don't have that anymore."

The Canadian Press reports that approximately 30,000 trucks roll across the border each day hauling nearly $850 million in freight, according to 2020 figures from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics.

Tuesday's convoy is expected to arrive in Headingley at 2:30 p.m. It will then make its way to the South Perimeter and then east on the Trans-Canada Highway and on to Kenora.