However, drivers' association has asked US and Canada to drop mandate citing lack of evidence of spread threat
Alain Bedard, CEO of TFI International Inc., Canada’s largest trucking company, says that operations have been virtually untouched by the recent contentious vaccine mandate.
Bedard says that “vaccination at TFI is not an issue at all,” with the vast majority of the company’s drivers having received the COVID vaccine, reports The Canadian Press.
Drivers who have opted not to get vaccinated have been reassigned to Canadian routes (the mandate concerns truckers working US-Canadian routes).
In fact, he says that January was looking like the best ever for the company.
Despite this, protests over the vaccine mandate continue, with additional protests picking up steam in the rest of Canada.
On Monday, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) sent a letter to US President Joe Biden and PM Justin Trudeau asking for truck drivers to be exempt from the current cross-border vaccine mandate.
“Since commercial drivers spend the majority of their time alone in their vehicle and outside, there is no evidence that truckers present a higher risk of spreading the virus,” said the letter.
It also noted that the U.S. Department of Labor has acknowledged that truckers were not at high risk of spreading the virus, and that truck drivers had been exempted from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s (OSHA) proposed vaccination and testing emergency temporary standard (ETS) which was released in November 2021.
Blockades
Bloomberg reports that truck blockades halting commercial traffic have been put into place at critical border crossings, such as at the Ambassador Bridge into Detroit, Michigan.
The crossing, which connects Detroit to Windsor, ON, was shut down in both directions on Monday.
Another border crossing in Coutts, Alta., has also been partly blocked by truckers.
US news outlet WLBT reports that truckers joined in a convoy in Anchorage, Alaska, to travel to Eagle River to show solidarity with truckers protesting the vaccine mandate.
Blockades have raised concerns over supply chains. James Allard, one of the organizers of the Alaska protest and current member of the Anchorage Assemble told WLBT that without truckers, “we’re not getting our supply. We need to get our supplies here. People need to be recognized for everything we’re doing here in our city.”
As well as concerns over supply, the blockades have also raised safety concerns.
The “Freedom Convoy” in Ottawa, now entering the second week of its protest.
Though the protest has, so far, been a largely peaceful exercise, there have been reports of journalists being harassed by some protesters, and rocks being thrown at an ambulance.
There have also been reports of shop owners being harassed and spat on for asking demonstrators to follow masking rules.
The city of Ottawa has declared a state of emergency, and police have begun trying to cut off supplies to the trucker convoy. However, protesters have said that they do not intend to leave until all COVID health restrictions have been lifted.
On Monday, Trudeau criticized the protesters for “trying to blockade our economy, our democracy and our fellow citizens’ daily lives.”
Speaking on last September’s election results, Trudeau said, “we asked Canadians how they wanted to keep fighting this pandemic, and their answer was clear,” and “Canadians chose vaccines. They chose science.”
