Canadians in different parts of the country gathered together at various rallies on March 5 to uphold freedom in an event dubbed the “Freedom Chain.”
On March 5, participants rendezvoused along the Trans-Canada Highway, which spans 7,476 km, in an effort to reach across the entirety of the country starting from British Columbia to Newfoundland and Labrador.
Many local gatherings were also organized in different cities across the country as part of the event, which is calling for unity and for Canadians’ charter rights and freedoms to be upheld. Participants had a variety of personal reasons for joining as well.
Chris Vee, who took part in the Freedom Chain in Vancouver, said he was there to fight for Canadians’ freedoms in the face of COVID-19 policies.
“It’s not even about a vaccine at this point. To me, it’s simply about control, and it seems to me that they don’t want to let that control go,” Vee said.
Melanie, another Vancouver participant who only gave her first name, said she was protesting against the COVID-19 mandates and defending the freedom of all Canadians.
“I care about freedom for all Canadians,” she told The Epoch Times. “In British Columbia, ... [the government] has not lifted the mandates for anyone in this province yet, and as an unvaccinated person, it’s really hard for me to find work, to feed my family, and ... to live my life.”
Melanie added that “I am here for everybody that’s unvaccinated, and everybody that’s vaccinated and frustrated with the government and with the way that everything is going in our world right now.”
In Lévis, Quebec, a video shared on Twitter shows an extensive Freedom Chain being formed, with participants cheering and waving Canadian flags. Honking of horns is continuously heard throughout the protest.
One of the individuals working with others in the Freedom Chain “collaborative effort,” speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Epoch Times that the purpose of the event is for Canadians to come together “in unity, love, and freedom.”
“It’s about unifying our country,” the source said. “It’s about unifying our people in love. It’s about showing that it doesn’t matter what you throw at us, we are stronger in love together and in unity in the freedom movement.”
Many other events were held on March 5 to ask for freedoms across the country. Some were associated with the Freedom Chain, and others were independent events. But many shared the theme of asking for upholding freedoms.
Rojer Dube, an entrepreneur participating in the demonstration in Ottawa, said he wants to “save the future of my children and our freedoms” from the government’s overreach policies.
“[The government] wants to force us to do the thing that they want us to do. And we don’t want that. We want our freedoms, and that’s very important for us,” he said.
“I don’t want them to know what I have in my bank account, and all my disease record in the hospital. They don’t have to know that,” Dube said, adding that he also doesn’t want the government to force citizens to be vaccinated.
The Ottawa event comes following the federal government’s invocation and subsequent revocation of the Emergencies Act in mid-February to oust the “Freedom Convoy” protesters who had parked trucks and other vehicles in downtown Ottawa for some three weeks.
With the additional powers under the Emergencies Act, authorities cleared the protesters through the use of riot police wielding batons and pepper spray, with some officers carrying heavy weapons. Police made close to 200 arrests.
On Saturday, another group of several hundred people gathered at a rally at Queen’s Park in Toronto and marched across the city’s downtown area to ask for upholding of freedoms.
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