More than a thousand people stood along the streets and gathered at the Federal Building plaza overlooking the Legislative Assembly area, where speakers were switched to at the microphone
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Car horns rang throughout downtown Edmonton on Saturday afternoon, and well into the evening, when a truck convoy supporting protesters in Ottawa held a meeting near the Alberta Legislature.
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A truck convoy from the city of Acheson took the road to Edmonton and began tying traffic on 109 Street and connecting lanes around 6 p.m. 12. The event was in the context of the national convoy, where thousands of truck drivers and people opposed to the cross-border vaccine mandate gathered. to show up at Parliament Hill in Ottawa.
Around 3 p.m., northbound traffic was backed up on 109th Street and 99th Avenue with trucks and cars adorned with Canadian flags and signs. At least a dozen truck drivers stood lined up and honked with their horns on 109 Street.
Protesters also stood along the sidewalks of 109 Street and connecting streets, some waving Canadian flags and others marching with signs – many of which suggested their liberties had been taken away.
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More than a thousand people stood along the streets and gathered at the Federal Building Square overlooking the Legislative Assembly Square, where the speakers took turns at the microphone and a woman broke into song.
“No more mandates. No more masks. No more experimental vaxx,” she sang.
Protest blocks traffic near the US border
A truck convoy that gathered early Saturday near the U.S. border at Coutts, Alta. blocking traffic on Highway 4 leading to the border crossing, Cpl said. Curtis Peters, spokesman for the RCMP.
Peters said U.S. officials turned traffic on the other side of the border.
Police are monitoring the situation and no one has been arrested, but Peters said Coutts is now blocked off if emergency vehicles need access. He added that officers are “engaging in dialogue” with protest organizers in the hope that they will allow an emergency access to the area.
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St. Albert-Edmonton MP seen at convoy protest in Ottawa
A photo of Michael Cooper, the Conservative MP for St. The Albert-Edmonton ride, at the protest at Parliament Hill has been circulated online and the mayors of the two cities have expressed their concern.
The picture was shown by Cooper during the protest on the CBC News Network, and in the background a protester can be seen waving a Canada flag on his head with a swastika on it.
Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and St. Albert Mayor Cathy Heron issued a joint statement on the image.
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The mayors said in the statement that symbolism, such as the swastika, is never okay, but it is even more worrying with the anniversary of the Holocaust that just passed, and Saturday is the day to commemorate the victims of the hate-based Quebec City mosque attack five years ago.
“We want the rest of the country to know that MP Cooper’s presence at this meeting in no way reflects the values of Edmontonians or St. Albertans,” the statement said.
“Our society is diverse, inclusive and accommodating, and hatred has absolutely no place here. Along with us, many other people are hurt by his behavior and lack of judgment, and we urge him to apologize not only to his constituents but also to the rest of the country. “
On Saturday night, Cooper issued a statement to Twitter, saying he “participated in a peaceful protest in support of truck drivers and other Canadians defending their freedoms and jobs.”
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Cooper said he did an impromptu TV interview, and moments later he learned via social media that a person he is not connected to was standing behind his back, holding a flag with an “evil symbol” on it.
“Had I seen the symbol, I would have condemned it as I do now,” he said. “Nazism is the purest form of evil, and I have always condemned it completely.”
Cooper said the individual does not represent the thousands of peaceful protesters waving Canadian flags and acting responsibly.
“I stand with them and will continue to fight for them,” Cooper said.
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– With files from The Canadian Press
ktaniguchi@postmedia.com
