The RCMP is once again out in force for the third day of nationwide carbon tax protests along major highways across the country.
Early this morning, protesters at the Saskatchewan–Manitoba border say they began setting pylons along the shoulder of the road to ensure there was a 0% chance they would obstruct traffic. However, they were quickly approached by several officers who told them, according to the protesters, that they would be arrested if they “so much as walk on the shoulder of the road as pedestrians.”
Despite the warning, protesters are still showing up, rallying off to the side to show their opposition to the carbon tax.
Video from the Ontario–Quebec border, where yet another protest is taking place, is far less intense, with several cars parked along the road and peaceful protesters waving Canadian flags.
As previously reported, Canadians began their nationwide protest against Trudeau’s carbon tax hike on Monday, staging protests in every province and nearly every border crossing in the country.
There were a few traffic diversions, but everything was peaceful and upbeat. That was until yesterday when the RCMP showed up to the Trans-Canada Highway in Alberta wearing riot gear and carrying automatic weapons with their name tags covered, forming a wall between protesters and the road.
Speaking to Mocha Bezirgan, one protester said, “It’s atrocious that money is being spent on this. And we’ve got so much rampant crime in these communities, and they wouldn’t do anything about it, but they’ll stand arm to arm against civilians who are just exercising their God-given right to actually protest the taxes, the carbon taxes, the cost of living.”
Many have likened the RCMP’s appearance to that seen during the Freedom Convoy protests, and several protesters have expressed concerns that this may be the new normal.
