Truckers caused serious problems at crossing points between the U.S. and Canada this week to protest vaccine mandates that threaten to end their jobs — and that experts warn might have huge ramifications for trade between the two nations.
Dozens of trucks slow-rolled along the highway 75 close to the U.S.-Canada border, clogging the road and border checkpoint and leading to delays, to protest the mandates that might leave thousands of people out of work and causes problems for an already bad supply chain in North America.
Starting this past weekend, Canada’s federal government ordered all unvaccinated truckers coming back from the U.S. must quarantine for at least two weeks and drivers from the U.S. who are not vaccinated no longer can come into Canada, according to the CBC.
Meanwhile, starting this Tuesday, the Biden White House will require all foreign drivers to have proof of vaccination to come into the U.S., it was reported by Reuters.
Truckers say these vaccine mandates will have “detrimental” impact on their work.
“We need to end these orwellian mandates that has been imposed on us for the past two years,” Rick Wall, the president of a trucking company and the current organizer of the protest, said to CBC.
“This is being put on by the truckers, but we are demanding an end to all mandates for every single human in this nation, not only for us,” he said. “It is extremely frustrating.”
Displaying signs against the vaccine requirement with slogans like “Stop Mandates” and “Freedom to Choose,” truckers and other vehicles moved slowly between the Emerson, Manitoba, entry port and the weighing scales.
The slow-roll protest would not stop any lanes but did slowed traffic greatly in the area, as reported by CBC.
“We basically all stand untied,” Wall said. “When truckers unite and stand together, we can create more change with the support of other people and that is what we are trying to accomplish here.”
Joe Janzen, the owner of Smoke’n Transport, said to CBC that the covid vaccine mandate for truckers is only needlessly “messing with people’s lives.”
Rob Penner, who is the CEO of Bison Transport, said his company is going along with the mandate requirement, some of his truck drivers are in “limbo” now as those who are not vaccinated are stuck doing only domestic routes.
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