“China eats weird animals disease”

Canadian national hero Terry Fox (1958-1981), after having had a leg amputated due to cancer in 1977, embarked on a cross-country run in 1980 to raise money for cancer research. An annual event held across Canada continues to honor his memory. Terry Fox became a national hero because he represented the spirit of courage and defiance, of rising above the odds, of refusing to surrender to the trials of his condition. He began his “Marathon of Hope” in St. John’s on the island of Newfoundland and ran many thousand kilometers to Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Langley, B.C., contractor Damian Conn says he can “agree to disagree” with friends who are opposed to vaccinations or believe in conspiracy theories and still maintain a relationship.

But when he realized he had friends who support the convoy protest in Ottawa — which is now entering its second week of demonstrations, snarling the nation’s capital, to call for an end to vaccine mandates and other public health measures related to COVID-19 — those relationships ended.

He’d known some of those friends since high school.

The sound of honking trucks echoed through the streets of downtown Toronto Saturday as a large crowd of protesters descended upon the city to demand the end of COVID-19 restrictions.

The protest, organized by the “Freedom Convoy,” started at noon at Queen’s Park, with protesters carrying signs and flags and chanting against COVID-19 vaccine mandates, including proof of vaccination in certain indoor settings.

These are the people that I protest against. Me, a Jewish Ukrainian woman, who had large numbers of her family exterminated in camps, only to suffer under communism for decades more. #TruckerConvoy #TorontoConvoy #FreedomConvoy https://t.co/m9Lc0UeQIA

— Ravyn Skye 🇺🇦 🇨🇦 🇪🇬 🇺🇸 (@RavynSkye2) February 5, 2022

On Yonge just spur of Bloor pic.twitter.com/0ISjy89G3L

— David Rider (@dmrider) February 5, 2022

A divorced anti-vaxxer dad from New Brunswick, Canada, has lost his right to see his three children in person after refusing to get the COVID shot.

The unidentified dad has an immunocompromised 10-year-old daughter but he and his new partner have refused to get the Covid-19 vaccine, leading Justice Nathalie Godbout of the Court of Queen’s Bench to order him to stay away from all three kids.

Ottawa protest faces rising resident anger, uncertain finances in its 2nd week

… Protesters have maintained a near-constant level of noise and disruption in the downtown core of the nation’s capital, blocking traffic, honking horns, setting off fireworks and organizing loud music.

Local officials and residents have spoken out about instances of harassment and intimidation by protesters, while some demonstrators have also displayed symbols of hate, including the Confederate flag and swastikas. Protesters have also put up a plywood building and tents in the area.

On Saturday, two protesters rode horses through the streets, one carrying a flag supporting former U.S. president Donald Trump.

The nation’s capital is facing a “real risk” of violence as the trucker convoy digs in, setting up infrastructure and heavy machinery in what Ontario Premier Doug Ford and the Ottawa police chief are both now calling an “occupation” of the city.

Tensions are only expected to rise on Saturday, with police estimates of up to 1,000 counterprotesters and thousands of additional convoy supporters making for what former Ottawa police chief Charles Bordeleau called a “volatile” mix

At the end of the day yesterday in Winnipeg. A provocateur deliberately ran over a protester with his suv and injured 3 others. He’s been apprehended. All Day long the crowd of protesters were peaceful, lots of smiles, hugs and laughter. Let’s pray for the injured and the driver. pic.twitter.com/KoJboNTIt5

— Tobias Tissen (@TissenTobias) February 5, 2022

Update

UPDATE: Police Give Briefing on Winnipeg Attack:

The driver hit four Freedom Convoy protesters and fought the police during his arrest. The driver faces numerous charges including Assault with a Weapon.pic.twitter.com/9nAfm0fPrl

— Election Wizard 🚛 (@ElectionWiz) February 5, 2022

As I write this article, it is the morning of Thursday, February 3rd and I am in Ottawa. I just came into the office after walking down Wellington Street, where rigs, Honda Civics, Ford F-150s, and RVs are parked, and people of all ages and all backgrounds are advocating for a return to normal life.

Canadians taking a pit stop: Lunch is served! Civic minded Canadians enjoying patriotic outdoor cuisine and smiles at this family friendly event. pic.twitter.com/Okc3OK4F9d

— Unacceptable Rowan (@canmericanized) February 5, 2022

With a robust police presence, cordoned-off streets and surveillance cameras, Toronto girded Saturday for its own version of the trucker-led protests that have roiled central Ottawa for a week.

Hulking farm tractors and smaller trucks began arriving for the demonstration at Queen’s Park on Friday afternoon. Police barricades prevented them from getting near the legislative building, leaving the activists to park alongside the Royal Ontario Museum.

With the Beijing Olympics set to begin, a group of international scientists is once more calling for a “comprehensive international investigation” into the origins of COVID-19.

It’s the latest in a series of strongly worded letters demanding more transparency from the Chinese government, once again stoking a contentious debate that’s been ongoing throughout the pandemic’s many months.

The letter — signed by 20 scientists from the U.S., U.K., Germany, New Zealand, France, Australia, India and Japan — echoes what have become broad international calls for a more thorough examination, unfettered by geopolitics, into where COVID-19 came from. It also underscores continued criticism from both the U.S. and international bodies over the Chinese government’s lack of cooperation.

Call it a protest. An occupation. A siege.

… Sloly described the protest as a well-funded, well-organized movement that includes multiple command posts — in Ottawa, across the country and even overseas — that finally compelled his force to adjust, one week after the protest started.

“We are literally learning lessons every day,” he said.

One of those lessons-learned is that this protest is so big and so scary, police aren’t even confident it could be controlled if they tried to break it up.

More rallies protesting COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other pandemic restrictions will get underway today in Ottawa and several other major cities in Canada.

A second weekend of protests by the so-called “freedom convoy” will take place in the country’s capital, with as many as 300 to 400 trucks expected to try and enter the downtown core, according to police estimates, along with up to 2,000 people on foot and another 1,000 counter-protesters.