Saturday afternoon at the Alberta legislature in Edmonton, hundreds of people and dozens of trucks gathered to protest remaining COVID-19 restrictions. The weekly protest, the fifth of its kind involving a convoy of trucks and other vehicles, was much smaller than previous weeks. Alberta is set to end its province-wide mask mandate and other gathering restrictions on March 1.
Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi and the city council sought an injunction in mid-February to outlaw honking within city limits. Saturday, protesters complained of receiving escalating tickets starting at $81 for breaking the honking ban. Mayor Sohi sat on the city’s council prior to spending four years as a Liberal MP with a stint as environment minister in Trudeau’s cabinet, a token appointment as one of just a handful of Liberals elected in Western Canada at the time.
However, in spite of the honking ban and the reopening announcement from Alberta Premier Jason Kenney, many of the protesters and convoyers said they do not trust promises from Kenney after being told once before that the province was “open for good” for the “best summer ever.” Others said they will continue to gather until all Canadians are free of coronavirus regulations, including cross-border vaccine and isolation protocols, workplace vaccine mandates and domestic travel restrictions.
