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Thousands in Ottawa protest COVID mandates, many rebuked

Protestors mingle around vehicles parked on Wellington St. in front of West Block and the Parliament buildings as they participate in a cross-country truck convoy protesting measures taken by authorities to curb the spread of COVID-19 and vaccine mandates in Ottawa on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)
Protestors mingle around vehicles parked on Wellington St. in front of West Block and the Parliament buildings as they participate in a cross-country truck convoy protesting measures taken by authorities to curb the spread of COVID-19 and vaccine mandates in Ottawa on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP) Protestors mingle around vehicles parked on Wellington St. in front of West Block and the Parliament buildings as they participate in a cross-country truck convoy protesting measures taken by authorities to curb the spread of COVID-19 and vaccine mandates in Ottawa on Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

By Associated Press 4 min read

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) – Thousands of protesters gathered in Canada’s capital on Saturday to protest vaccine mandates, masks and lockdowns.

Some parked on the grounds of the National War Memorial and danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, others carried signs and flags with swastikas and some used the statue of Canadian hero Terry Fox to display an anti-vaccine statement, sparking widespread condemnation.

“I am sickened to see protesters dance on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and desecrate the National War Memorial. Generations of Canadians have fought and died for our rights, including free speech, but not this. Those involved should hang their heads in shame,” tweeted Gen. Wayne Eyre, Canada’s Defense Staff chief.

Protestors compared vaccine mandates to fascism, one truck carried a Confederate flag and many carried expletive-laden signs targeting Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

The statue of Fox, a national hero who lost a leg to bone cancer as a youngster, then set off in 1980 on a fundraising trek across Canada, was draped with a upside down Canadian flag with a sign that said “mandate freedom.”