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(Lethbridge News Now)

Trucking convoy rallies against COVID-19 restrictions in Lethbridge

Dec 5, 2020 | 3:08 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Several hundreds of people came out to the ENMAX Centre Saturday afternoon to show their opposition to COVID-19 shutdowns.

A long line of commercial trucks, pickup trucks, and the like crowded the parking lot and made a loop around Mayor Magrath and a few other popular city roads.

The event’s organizer says it all started with one email he sent to a friend in the transportation industry.

“It really ballooned from there.”

While an official count was not available, the organizer believes there were anywhere from 500-800 vehicles at the rally, hailing from across the region.

He tells LNN that truckers travel across the region and the country, seeing the economic impact the COVID-19 pandemic and the related restrictions have had on businesses.

Another key issue for the organizer is defunding the police.

It was recently proposed in Lethbridge City Council’s operating budget deliberations that as much as $1-million would be removed from the LPS budget.

READ MORE: Lethbridge City Council defers operating budget decisions

Since Lethbridge had the number one Crime Severity Index for 2019 in Macleans’ annual ranking, he says cutting the police budget would be a mistake.

READ MORE: Lethbridge has Canada’s highest Crime Severity Index

There was a mixture of those staying in their vehicles while the lineup was being assembled and those who congregated outside.

While many of the people in attendance had signs that were showed opposition to face masks, the organizer says masks were not meant to be a focal point for this event. At the same time, he is a supporter of free speech, and therefore, would not try to stop anyone who had a sign of that nature.

Some of the signs LNN noticed at the rally include:

“FREEDOM OVER FEAR”

“United, Not Divided”

“Support Small Businesses”

“No Further Lockdowns”

“Do Not Defund Lethbridge City Police”

“Save Christmas”

“End All Lockdowns”

“No More Masks”

“No To Communism”

“United Not Divided”

“Thanks Jason Kenney. Keep Up the Good Work”

“Canada is being conditioned to believe that freedom is selfishness”

“Lockdown does more Harm than Good”

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