Bay of Quinte MP Ryan Williams Says He Stands with Truck Drivers
As a Freedom Convoy in opposition of a federal vaccine mandate for truckers crosses Canada and heads to Ottawa, Bay of Quinte MP Ryan Williams wants them to know he supports them. MP Williams says “With record inflation, many families are suffering with the highest food prices in their lifetimes. Our local businesses are also struggling. I have had the opportunity to speak with Quinte manufacturers and they are legitimately concerned this mandate will cripple and target their already limited supply. We need to keep everyone safe but we also need to support our already fragile trucking industry.”
The Canadian trucking industry, already at historic labour droughts, was at the centre of a Liberal government vaccine mandate. But MP Williams says the truckers’ mandate is just the beginning of the story. Williams says “When they you see continued strain on supply chains across Canada, you know it is not a shortage of product, but a shortage of people. We were short 18,000 truckers in Canada prior to Covid-19. We are now short over 26,000. Widespread shortages may not be in Quinte yet, but I don’t want them to be. This mandate was unnecessary at this time, given our shortages. We need to find solutions that prop up our truckers and our economy. We need to bring Canada forward, not backward.”
“Our party believes in vaccines, but not in mandates. My personal view is to go get vaccinated, go get your booster – I have all 3 – but we need to have an eye on getting life back to normal. To do this, the government has to get out of the way. That means ensuring families aren’t hit with more price increases at the grocery store. We have to ensure we have the labour needed across the region and across the country. That starts with more truckers, skilled trades, doctors and nurses.”
“In Canada we have the right to safe, responsible protest. This protest by our trucking industry is bringing to light vaccine mandate protests. It also shines a light on supply chain shortages brought on by labour shortages and inflation and brought on by unnecessary over-spending. Above all else, it is brought on by the need for Canadians to feel hope as we learn to live with COVID-19 and as we move from a pandemic to an endemic.”
A convoy of transports and other vehicles from across Canada will converge on Parliament Hill this Saturday to protest pandemic mandates.