Manitoba trucker vows to stay in Ottawa ‘It’s about freedom of choice,’ St. Andrews man says as police threaten arrests By: Dylan Robertson Posted: 7:00 PM CST Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022 Last Modified: 8:03 PM CST Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2022 Updates

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OTTAWA — Manitoba trucker Clarence Penner was unfazed Wednesday as Ottawa police started handing out notices, urging his peers to drive their big rigs off Parliament Hill or risk arrest.

“This has got nothing to do with vaxxed and unvaxxed, not at all. It’s about freedom of choice,” Penner told the Free Press.

The unvaccinated trucker drove from his St. Andrews home to protest COVID-19 immunization mandates, arriving in Ottawa on Jan. 29, as a rally of thousands made national headlines.

That month, he’d lost most of his ability to work in hauling heavy equipment to the United States, after Canadian and American officials both required truckers to get vaccinated in order to avoid a two-week quarantine.

Penner said he’s rarely sick and doesn’t get flu shots. He said a feeling of coercion made him even more hesitant to get a vaccine than the online posts he’s read about side-effects and efficacy.

“It’s violating. It’s abuse by the system,” he said.

“It’s like somebody taking your personal possessions out of your house and claiming it’s theirs.”

And so instead of sitting at home unpaid, he took to the capital to raise a point, finding a carnival-like atmosphere where strangers provide fuel, food and fun.

“It’s just love, peace, hope. Just like a big happy family reunion,” he said. “Everyone’s smiling and having a good time. You see a lot of kids having a lot of fun.”

The Ottawa protest has gained notoriety for anti-Semitic signs, the desecration of the National War Memorial and violent rhetoric from the convoy organizers, who say they want to overthrow the government.

And yet, 30 metres from Penner’s truck is an impromptu daycare, where children build plastic forts and play Connect Four in front of the gate that MPs often use to access the House of Commons.

About 150 metres down the street sat a bouncy castle 10 days ago, which remained popular as the smell of diesel permeated the precinct.

Last Saturday, a hot tub was set up across the road, while a pig roasting on a spit got attention Wednesday.

The convoy participants see those as signs of community that they haven’t experienced during pandemic lockdowns.

But it’s seen as a mockery of the rule of law to Ottawa councillors and hundreds of residents, who took it upon themselves to block 20 trucks from driving fuel toward the Hill last Sunday.

Those locals focus on foster-care officials warning that children should be in school, and on the signs with racist or homophobic undertones.

“I have not seen any racism at all. Some of the signage, to me, is pushing it.” – Clarence Penner

“I have not seen any racism at all. Some of the signage, to me, is pushing it,” said Penner, who feels the media coverage doesn’t reflect his daily life in the convoy.

“I think kids in school at a very young age are exposed to a lot worse language than what we see out here.”

Penner believes his bout of illness this past Christmas was COVID-19.

He argues many Manitobans now have natural immunity, although virology studies have questioned that contention, such as a Centers for Disease Control analysis that found more than one-third of people who recovered from the coronavirus lacked any immunity to reinfection.

Penner is also irate his daughter can’t go to the University of Manitoba because of the vaccination mandate.

“It’s really frustrating; university should be about giving everybody an equal right,” said Penner, whose truck has a Manitoba flag hanging on the side. “We’re treated like toddlers that can’t make up own minds.”

It’s really frustrating; university should be about giving everybody an equal right.” – Clarence Penner

On the back of his truck is a poster his daughter designed, reading “education is denied; families on the divide.”

On Monday, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson clinched a deal with the convoy organizers, in which trucks parked on residential streets, such as Penner’s, were brought even closer to the Parliament buildings.

That same day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act, in the hopes of clearing the convoy from the Hill. He has ordered officials to freeze the financing that has led the bounty of diesel and hot dogs in the precinct.

“That’s a very cowardly act,” Penner said. “Like, just come talk to us.”

Len Petkau, the head of Steinbach-based Terrain Transport, allowed staff to send five company trucks to Ottawa for the convoy, arguing the mandates don’t make sense for truckers and other jobs that involve working in solitude.

“Let’s actually follow the science,” said Petkau, who stayed home. “Trudeau is drunk on power.”

“I’m more convinced now than ever that we have to stay there.” – Len Petkau

Petkau’s company has 13 vaccinated and 14 unvaccinated truckers, and the latter can’t be assigned enough domestic Canadian routes for him to keep them employed.

He echoed the federal Conservatives in arguing that Ottawa should demonstrate it follows science by setting a timeline or epidemiological targets for ending the vaccination requirements for various industries.

“I’m more convinced now than ever that we have to stay there,” said Petkau.

To him, it’s unnecessarily punitive to deem the convoy an illegal gathering under the Emergencies Act, because that could lead to criminal charges that could bar people from entering the U.S., a point that Ottawa police mention in the paper notices they handed out Wednesday.

Petkau is holding out for MPs or senators to reject the imposition of the Emergencies Act, with a vote to take place as late as March 2.

“If Parliament votes it in, I’m pulling my trucks out,” Petkau said.

Winnipeg fitness trainer Shaun Zimmer, who has run afoul of Manitoba restrictions, is also at the Ottawa convoy. He told his social-media followers that his bank froze his funds.

Zimmer, who did not immediately respond to an interview request, said it was a deliberate attempt to silence the protests.

“Don’t let a frozen account like mine scare you, because we have so many people worldwide right now who want to help,” he said in an Instagram video.

As for Penner, he might get a different job if governments refuse to lift the mandates for truckers, but says he’s taking each day at a time.

“If we don’t get freedom, a lot of these guys have nothing to go back to,” said Penner, who has slept in his truck for the past 18 days.

“This is not really fun; I’d rather be at home with my family.”

dylan.robertson@freepress.mb.ca