Something This Country Desperately Needs

'You started realizing how much hope people were placing in this Convoy.'

Part 1: The Flatbed with the Roof Truss Sign

Screen capture from a video interview recorded by Eagle Vision Video Productions (click image)

By Tuesday afternoon, January 25, 2022, the consolidated, full-strength western Convoy was approaching Winnipeg. That city “blew us away,” remembers Andy, who was in the passenger seat of Bern’s Peterbilt, waving through the open window. “So many people. It was minus 30, or something like that. They’d been waiting out there for how many hours, like six hours. Just so many people. On overpasses, in ditches, driveways…cheering us on.” 

It normally takes transport trucks 45 minutes to traverse the outskirts of Winnipeg before returning to open prairie highway. But that day it took three hours. There were “vehicles and people absolutely everywhere,” Bern remembers. Many of those truckers “did not have dry eyes going through Winnipeg,” he says. “It was something – something else.”

Andy agrees, “Just the thank-yous. You know, people with signs saying ‘Thank you, truckers.’ That’ll get to you.”

Around midday on Thursday, western Canada’s Freedom Convoy split in two near Nipigon, Ontario. The truckers who stuck to the Trans-Canada Highway would later spend the night in Sault Ste Marie. Bern and Andy opted for Highway 11, a more northerly route.

Once again, it was a long day. Arriving in Cochrane after 10 pm, locals welcomed them with open arms. They were fed hot wonton soup, spaghetti, and pizza. A hotel room had been reserved overnight for whomever needed a shower.

In Bern’s mind, Cochrane was a turning point. Many individuals he spoke to there had heartbreaking stories. Some had “lost their job, or they weren’t able to spend time with their grandparents when their grandparents were dying,” due to COVID protocols. He describes these interactions as humbling. “You saw so many people referring to truckers as heroes. And we’re just normal people, right.”

On the road the next morning, he remembers,

it was almost like our whole Convoy kind of quieted down. Because we’d now seen a lot of communities where there was so much support. But you also started realizing how much hope people were placing in this Convoy. And it got to be a bit of a weight on our shoulders. You’re starting to realize how much people need this…

We’d been riding the wave for a couple days, the adrenaline. Look at these people, this is awesome. And then it started hitting home. It’s like, no, this is not just a joyride. This is something this country needs desperately.

next installment: Rousing the Politically Aloof