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Police temporarily closed roads across London Saturday afternoon as an anti-restrictions convoy rolled through some of the city’s main areas.
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Convoy participants filled the parking lot outside a shopping centre at Wellington Road South and Roxburgh Road, just south of Highway 401, around 2 p.m. Many honked their horns, waved Canadian flags and had anti-vaccine mandate and anti-Justin Trudeau signs.
Police in response closed several roads, such as Wellington Street between Dufferin and Central avenues, as the convoy arrived. There was a crash involving several convoy vehicles along Wellington south of downtown, police said.
As of 4 p.m., any blocked downtown roads had been reopened, police noted on social media. “We would like to thank the public for their patience while dealing with traffic delays.”
The group began its route on Wellington Road, driving past a simultaneous demonstration in support of health care workers outside Victoria Hospital. London police closed Commissioners Road between Wellington and Adelaide streets as the two demonstrations got underway.
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Crowds gathered at the corner of Wellington and Commissioners roads, outside of Victoria Hospital, to show their support for health care workers on Saturday Feb. 5, 2022.
Some convoy participants honked and waved at the pro-health care worker group gathering outside of Victoria Hospital as they passed by around 2:30 p.m.
The convoy had planned a figure-eight route through the city beginning on Wellington Road and heading into the downtown core, then north to Fanshawe Park Road. The planned route moved the convoy south along Adelaide Street to Oxford Street and then into the west end and back to its starting location.
The London convoy demonstration echoes the larger trucker protest that’s been occupying downtown Ottawa for more than a week.
The Ottawa demonstration, which has attracted truck drivers and supporters from across the country, began in opposition to the federal government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for truckers and has since become a movement against pandemic restrictions and vaccination requirements in general. Other Canadian cities, including Toronto, are facing similar rolling protests and possible occupations.
Convoy participants gathered outside a shopping centre at Wellington and Roxburgh roads in south London Saturday to oppose pandemic restrictions and COVID-19 vaccine mandates. Photo taken Saturday Feb. 5, 2022.
https://lfpress.com/news/local-news/police-shutter-streets-as-anti-restrictions-protesters-roll-through-london
