Convoy
The freedom convoy protests started with a group of truck drivers opposed to COVID-19 restrictions that affected cross-border travel and their livelihoods. The Ottawa-bound truckers drew large crowds as they moved across the country, though their message muddied over the miles sweeping up a wide range of anti-Liberal government sentiment that included misinformation and white supremacy. The protests culminated in a massive police operation involving thousands of officers from across the country, brought in to the nation’s capital to remove the holdouts who had blockaded a main thoroughfare in front of the parliament buildings.
Anti-mandate protesters, opposed to restrictions intended to curb the spread of COVID-19, maintain a blockade of the Ambassador Bridge border crossing, in Windsor, Ont., on Feb. 11, 2022.
Demonstrators and police come together during as an injunction against the Parliament Hill encampment is enforced on Feb. 19, 2022.
Supporters of the anti-vaccine mandate convoy cheer on Ottawa-bound truckers as they pass the Vaughn Mills mall on Jan. 27, 2022.
Police enforce an injunction against protesters, some who have been camped in their trucks near Parliament Hill for weeks, on Feb. 19, 2022.
A shirtless demonstrator defies a line of police officers enforcing an injunction at an encampment near Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, on Feb. 19, 2022.
Supporters of an anti-vaccine mandate convoy bound for Ottawa cheer on a line of truckers as they pass Vaughn Mills outlet mall, in Vaughn, Ont., on Jan. 27, 2022.
The Ambassador Bridge blockade stopped cross-border travel for days. Here demonstrators show their colours on the Windsor, Ont., side on Feb. 11, 2022.
Police officers from Quebec join a force of thousands brought in to clear the remnants of the freedom convoy encampment, near Parliament Hill, on Feb. 19, 2022.
The convoy moves through downtown Toronto on Feb. 5, 2022.
An protest attendee with a tattered colonial flag is pictured in front of Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, on Feb. 17, 2022.
A heavily-armed operator was among the law enforcement officers brought in to clear the Parliament Hill encampment on Feb. 19, 2022.
Anti-Liberal government sentiment on display in Vaughn, Ont., on Jan. 27, 2022.
Farmers in solidarity with the convoy truckers brought their tractors to the provincial legislature, in Toronto, on Feb. 4, 2022.
An anti-mandate protester carrying an American flag cries as police officers clear the Ambassador Bridge blockade, in Windsor, Ont., on Feb. 12, 2022.
A 'freedom' placard is trampled in the snow as police from across the country enforce an injunction on Parliament Hill, in Ottawa, on Feb. 18, 2022.
In the end, only a handful of trucks remained at the Parliament Hill blockade the night of Feb. 18, 2022. They were all removed the next day.
Vaughn Mills, Ont., Jan. 27, 2022.