Noisy trucks and protesters descend on Edmonton for third straight week

Hundreds of protesters, on foot or inside a convoy of trucks and other vehicles, gathered in downtown Edmonton Saturday, the third weekend in a row for demonstrations protesting mandatory vaccinations and COVID-19 health measures.

Walkers waving signs and flags crowded the sidewalks as they marched from the Federal Plaza near the Alberta Legislature to city hall. 

The vehicular convoys, meanwhile, pulled in from staging areas east, west and south of the city, disrupting traffic on major roads like Anthony Henday Drive and St. Albert Trail. 

Many vehicles were honking their horns, ignoring a court injunction sought by the city in a bid to tamp down noise from convoy protesters that has disrupted city residents over the past two weeks.

"While [Edmonton city council] and I fully support the right to peaceful protests, we must set boundaries when it comes to demonstrations that compromise the well-being of local [businesses] and community members," Edmonton Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said on Twitter Friday.

The injunction, granted Friday by Court of Queen's Bench Justice Paul Belzil, prohibits "the frequent or sustained sounding of motor vehicle horns, truck air horns, equipment horns, megaphones and other similar noise-making devices within the boundaries of the city." 

It is in effect now and lasts until March 4.

"Please PLEASE enforce this," one Twitter user replied to Sohi's post. "I cannot take another eight hours of honking."

Police say the convoys are expected to tie up traffic on Anthony Henday Drive, Yellowhead Trail, Stony Plain Road, Whitemud Drive, Gateway Blvd, Walterdale Hill, Queen Elizabeth Park Road and the downtown core.

"Our focus will be to prevent these convoys from developing into situations that actively threaten the safety and security of our community," Edmonton Police Service said in a Friday statement.

"We are closely monitoring this demonstration and are ready to adapt our response as required."

The statement, provided before the injunction was approved in late afternoon, stated that police actions "may include verbal warnings, tickets, arrests and gathering of evidence for follow-up investigations."

The Freedom Convoy was organized in late January to protest the federal vaccine policy that came into effect on Jan. 15 for truckers crossing the Canada-U.S. border — a group of travellers previously exempt from pandemic entry requirements. One week later, a similar policy took effect in the U.S.

At Coutts, Alta., a blockade of trucks and other large vehicles has stymied traffic to and from the United States since Jan. 29.