Editors note: The convoy is scheduled to pass through North Bay Friday afternoon with a stop on Pinewood Park Drive at 1 p.m.
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When a group of Canadian truckers first got in their rigs and hit the highways for Ottawa the reason was clear -- to oppose new rules requiring them to be fully vaccinated when crossing the Canada-U.S. border or face a 14-day quarantine on their return.
Now, amid reports the convoy has grown to take up over 200 kilometres of highway, it seems what the truckers are fighting for is also growing more unclear.
"This is no longer about the mandate anymore," said Jason LaFace, the convoy's main organizer in Ontario. "This is about Canada, this is about our rights and how the government's been manipulating the population and oppressing us all the time."
LaFace made the comments during an interview on Kitchener Today with Brian Bourke in which he admits he is not a trucker himself.
"No, I am a regular Canadian with some very exceptional organizational skills," LaFace said. "I'm one of the main organizers for 'No More Lockdowns' and Canada Unity asked me to join their team and I've been organizing pretty much a good portion of Ontario for the rally."
The industry outsider from Sudbury also applied to be a People's Party of Canada candidate in the last federal election but instead became the first president of the party's Sudbury riding association. He said at the heart of this protest is the opposition to people being 'forced' to take the COVID-19 vaccine which he also claims does not work.
"Well let's be real here: if it worked, think all these people that were vaccinated would get COVID so fast?" LaFace asked before shifting his argument to perceived oppression and comparing mask mandates to living in Nazi Germany.
"Let me finish here, I have family who are Jewish -- who are victims of the Holocaust -- and this thing here what is going on with the government, you know, when you walk in the grocery store... 'wear your mask!'... are we living in an oppressed society?"
So as hundreds of truckers continue to hit the road ahead of a weekend rally it's become increasingly unclear what their ultimate goal is. LaFace however is making his abundantly clear.
"We have a group of constitutional lawyers that have been working with our team," he said. "We're getting the rest of our signatures and we're having them compel the government to dissolve government."
"[Justin] Trudeau is a criminal in this country, he needs to go," said LaFace. He then hung up on the interview.
