Motorists traveling across the border between Montana and Alberta have been caught in blockade of vehicles that have essentially shut down the highway south of the city of Lethbridge, Alberta, 65 miles to the Canada-U.S. border crossing in the village of Coutts.
Despite being 2,000 miles away from Ottawa, the demonstration is related directly to what is happening in the Canadian capital where protests are running into a fourth day against Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and COVID-19 vaccine mandates - which require unvaccinated truckers to get a PCR test and quarantine.
Earlier Monday, Trudeau declared he will not be meeting with truckers currently overrunning Ottawa in protest of his vaccine mandate because of their 'hateful rhetoric.'
Almost 2,000 miles west of Ottawa, hundreds of truckers are protesting having convened at the southernmost point of the province of Alberta, forming a blockade between the territory and the US state of Montana to the south
The truckers in Alberta were met with backlash from local law enforcement, who ordered the drivers to put ther rigs in gear and stop blocking trucks and other international commuters from crossing the currently gridlocked border.
But drivers stationed along the border have refused to budge from the major artery for commercial goods between the nations.
In solidarity with their Ottawa counterparts, truckers in at the Alberta / Montana border staged what police described as a 'complete blockage' of Highway 4 in Canada's western province
When asked whether he was going to meet the protesters, Trudeau said he had no interest in going 'anywhere near protests that have expressed hateful rhetoric and violence towards their fellow citizens.'
The politician went on to assert that he had personally attended protests himself when he 'agreed with the goals' being fought for, such as those championed by Black Lives Matter, but dismissed the truckers' dissent - which was spurred by the politico's own policies - as 'racist' and 'violent.'
'I have attended protests and rallies in the past when I agreed with the goals, when I supported the people expressing their concerns and their issues,' Trudeau said.
'But I have also chosen to not go anywhere near protests that have expressed hateful rhetoric, violence towards fellow citizens, and a disrespect not just of science, but of the frontline health workers and quite frankly, the 90 per cent of truckers who have been doing the right thing to keep Canadians safe to put food on our tables.'
'There is no place in our country for threats, violence or hatred,' he asserted. 'So for those responsible for this behavior, it needs to stop. To anyone who joined the convoy and was rightly uncomfortable with the symbols of hatred and division on display, join with your fellow Canadians. Be courageous, and speak out. Do not stand for, or with, intolerance and hate.'
In his speech, Trudeau went on to slam conservative politicians from his country for supporting the truckers' protests, warning them to 'think long and hard about the consequences of your actions.'
After the address, the prime minister doubled down on his stance in a series of posts on social media.
Earlier that morning, after fleeing his home with his family Sunday as thousands of truckers descended on the Canadian capital to protest the country's vaccine mandate and COVID lockdowns, Trudeau revealed he had tested positive for COVID-19.
The protesting truckers say there is no 'end date' in sight and plan to stay in the capital 'for as long as it takes' and until the Canadian government flips and withdraws its policy on vaccine mandates.
The chaos clogged the capital's downtown near parliament throughout the weekend and brought criticism from officials, including Ottawa's mayor who said residents were 'prisoners in their own home.'
But the demonstrators say they intend to stay and that their aim is to 'create chaos' and a 'logistics nightmare' for Trudeau's government.
'Right now, yeah, it's really cold, but we hang in there, the days are going to get longer and we take this block party and put it into overdrive,' BJ Dichter, one of the organizers of the Freedom Convoy, said at a press conference. 'We're in this one for the long haul. We don't have a time limit.'
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