Convoys converge for noisy protest against COVID-19 measures in Quebec City

Crowds of protesters opposed to COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other public health measures converged in front of and around the National Assembly in Quebec City for a noisy protest Saturday, which peaked in the afternoon. 

Earlier Saturday, trucks and smaller vehicles poured into the city from across the province to take part in the protest, joining others that have been rolling in since Thursday evening. Convoys of drivers arrived from different parts of the province including the North Shore, Lower St-Lawrence, Saguenay and Beauce regions.

The protesters, including some families with children, cheered and waved signs calling for the end of public health restrictions. 

As of 7 p.m. Saturday, the crowd had thinned significantly, although a large number of protesters remained in front of the National Assembly, dancing to music and carrying signs. Numerous parked vehicles continued to line two lanes on René-Lévesque Boulevard. 

Tommy Massé arrived this morning with a convoy from Portneuf, west of Quebec City, along with three of his five children. He said he's protesting for their future.

"I want them to experience the childhood I had when I was young," said Massé. "With all the mandates we have with the [pandemic], I fear they will not be able to have the same childhood."

Another protester, Vincent Bélanger, travelled a long way from his home in Port Cartier on Quebec's North Shore to denounce the province's vaccination passport, calling it "discriminatory."

Jerome Bergeron arrived Saturday from Beaumont near Lévis to speak out against what he says are exaggerated public health measures. 

"We are fed up with the sanitary measures, there is some incoherence in what the government tells us," he said. 

A small group of counter protesters also gathered in the area around the National Assembly, with some of them encouraging drivers to honk if they have been vaccinated. 

Quebec officials have said while protesters have a right to demonstrate, they will not tolerate vehicles blocking roads. 

Earlier in the afternoon, rows of vehicles were driving by the National Assembly honking their horns, many of them flying Canadian and Quebec flags and "freedom" signs from their vehicles.

But as the protest swelled, around 3 p.m., police expanded the area around the National Assembly that is off limits to cars. Honoré-Mercier Boulevard is closed between Grande Allée and Côte d'Abraham boulevards, as is Grande Allée between de Claire-Fontaine Street and Honoré-Mercier Boulevard. 

Demonstrators filled René-Lévesque, forcing police to also block off a one-kilometre stretch of the boulevard, between Honoré-Mercier and de Salaberry Avenue.