Grand Manan Man Plans to Stay at "Freedom Convoy" until Demands are Met

For nearly two weeks, Grand Manan Island resident James Doull has been living out of his truck in Ottawa, and he says he's in it for the long-haul.

"I've got enough food and supplies to live out of this truck for three months," he said. 

Doull is one of many New Brunswickers who have travelled to Canada's capital to take part in what's been dubbed "the Freedom Convoy," a demonstration that was originally started to demand an end to the vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the US-Canada border. The movement has evolved into a protest against provincial and federal COVID-19 restrictions with thousands of demonstrators from across Canada descending upon the nation's capitol and refusing to leave until their demands are met.

On Friday, the protest took a major financial blow when GoFundMe announced that they planned to return $9 million in donations raised on their platform to fund protestors' travel expenses due to what they preceive as unlawful activity, with GoFundMe insisting they have reason to believe that the protest has no devolved into an occupation.

The protestors are also facing a lawsuit from residents of Ottawa who says their lives and businesses have been disrupted by the convoy, but Doull says there are also many locals are also supportive, with a group even doing laundry for demonstrators who are living out of their trucks.

"It's a local church group," he said. 

St. Andrews resident David Maxwell was also at the protest in Ottawa this past weekend.

Maxwell returned home to go to work in St. Stephen this week but plans to drive back to Ottawa with a friend again this weekend.

"I'm making the 13 hour drive again," he said. "I'm looking forward to going back and being a part of it."

There also a handful of protests planned in New Brunswick once again this weekend including another one in Charlotte County scheduled for Saturday, February 12, beginning in Pennfield.

This comes at a time when Canada's Chief Medical Officer Dr. Theresa Tam says its time for Canada start transitioning into learning to live with COVID-19. New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs says he’s meeting with public health officials and cabinet this week and plans to unveil a timeline to loosen COVID-19 restrictions in the coming days.