"Freedom Convoy" Supporters Rally in St. Stephen

CHCO-TV NewsBreak26 with Vicki Hogarth: St. Stephen

Dozens of "Freedom Convoy" supporters rally in St. Stephen and parade through town and down Highway 1.
Original Broadcast Date: January 31, 2022

Dozens of people met at the Charlotte County mall parking lot in St. Stephen on Sunday to rally together in support of the truckers convoy in Ottawa. Participants said they were not only protesting the vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the US-Canada border, but also ongoing provincial and federal COVID-19 restrictions that they believe have negatively affected people's lives. Bernadette Cunningham who owns Bernie's Body Blast, a fitness centre on Milltown Boulevard,
says constantly opening and shutting down amid restriction changes has made running a small business that isn't deemed essential by the government nearly impossible.

Barb Rideout is a concerned parent who says children moving back and forth between the classroom and online learning over the past two years amid COVID-19 outbreaks and various waves of the pandemic has been detrimental to children's well being and development.

Another person we spoke with off camera said a family member had lost his job as a trucker due to the vaccine mandate for truck drivers crossing the US-Canada border, recently implemented by the federal government. The vaccination mandate for truckers is notably what originally inspired thousands of people from across Canada to convene in Ottawa this past Saturday to protest the mandate along with other federal and provincial COVID-19 restrictions. Rallies in support of the convoy, like the one in St. Stephen, have been happening across Canada in solidarity with the Ottawa-based protest, a protest that is continuing this week.

Just after 1pm on Sunday, the St. Stephen convoy support rally took to the road with two semi trucks leading a parade of about 30 vehicles down Milltown Boulevard and through the main streets of St. Stephen. The rally on wheels drove by the international border before making their way down a section of Highway 1 where they were cheered on by another group of protesters and convoy supporters who snowshoed to the side of the highway to greet them with signs and Canadian flags.

We interviewed one of the organizers of the event who later asked for her interview to be removed from the news story due to backlash she received on social media for organizing the rally. In her interview, she mentioned that she is vaccinated and that the event wasn't by any means an anti-vax protest but merely a support rally for people and truckers who've had their lives and livelihoods affected by pandemic restrictions. It's worth noting that the vast majority of the people we spoke with at the event were vaccinated but took issue with ongoing restrictions.

Some New Brunswick trucks mand protesters made their way to Ottawa on Saturday as well, including a truck from Grand Manan.

Meanwhile, back in New Brunswick, Level 3 restrictions were lifted two days earlier than planned. Premier Blaine Higgs and Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Jennifer Russell announced at a press conference on Thursday that New Brunswick would be moving to the less restrictive Level 2 of the province's Winter Plan as of this past Friday at midnight and that students would once again be returning to classrooms this week.

Although hospitalizations will continue to be high as the Omicron-driven fifth wave peaks in mid-February in New Brunswick, Dr. Russell and the Premier are confident that two weeks of lockdown restrictions has helped curb what would have otherwise been an unmanageable spike.
CHCO-TV NewsBreak26 with Vicki Hogarth is an original Charlotte County Television production produced on location at the CHCO-TV studio in Saint Andrews, New Brunswick, Canada.