Canadian provinces lift COVID restrictions, protests remain.
The protests have also encompassed grievances about masks and other COVID-19 restrictions and a hatred of Trudeau.
Updated: 3:30 PM EST February 9, 2022
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TORONTO, ON — A rapidly growing list of Canadian provinces moved to lift their COVID-19 restrictions as protesters decrying such measures kept up the pressure with truck blockades Wednesday in the capital and at key U.S. border crossings, including the economically vital bridge to Detroit.
Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec and Prince Edward Island announced plans this week to roll back some or all precautions, with Alberta, Canada's most conservative province, dropping its vaccine passport for places such as restaurants immediately and getting rid of masks at the end of the month.
Alberta opposition leader Rachel Notley accused Alberta Premier Jason Kenney of allowing an “illegal blockade to dictate public health measures.”
Protesters have been blocking the border crossing at Coutts, Alberta, for more than a week and a half. About 50 trucks remained there Wednesday.
Also, more than 400 trucks have paralyzed downtown Ottawa, Canada's capital, in a protest that began late last month. . .
“I'll be brutally honest: You are trying to have a rational conversation and not everyone on the ground is a rational actor," Dilkens said. “Police are doing what is right by taking a moderate approach, trying to sensibly work through this situation where everyone can walk away, nobody gets hurt, and the bridge can open.”
At a news conference in Ottawa that excluded mainstream news organizations, Benjamin Dichter, one of the protest organizers, said: “I think the government and the media are drastically underestimating the resolve and patience of truckers.”
“Drop the mandates. Drop the passports," he said.
The “freedom truck convoy” has been promoted by Fox News personalities and attracted support from many U.S. Republicans, including former President Donald Trump, who called Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a “far left lunatic” who has “destroyed Canada with insane Covid mandates.”
Some demonstrators are protesting a rule that took effect Jan. 15 requiring truckers entering Canada to be fully immunized against the coronavirus. But the protests have also encompassed grievances about masks and other COVID-19 restrictions and a hatred of Trudeau.'>>>
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