Several mini-convoys rolled through communities in British Columbia on Jan. 28 as events were held in Canada, including in Ottawa, to mark the one-year anniversary of the trucker convoy protests against COVID-19 mandates.
Sarah Bankert was one of the primary organizers of a convoy in the B.C. Interior, beginning in Kelowna and driving approximately 125 kilometres west to Merritt before ending in Kamloops 90 kilometres north.
“I’m one of the road captains and I’ve organized convoys in Kelowna since 2021,” Bankert told The Epoch Times. “I just started throwing them together and they just started getting bigger.”
Bankert said a colleague suggested putting together an anniversary convoy, so she and her team organized it, recruiting more than 60 vehicles and 100 people when they left West Kelowna, and had more join them along the way.
“We had a lot of support,” she said. “We had supporters that would line up on the side of the road. Nothing compared to Ottawa, but a fair amount. Even in a small town, they’d wave and they would have their [Canadian] flags. So it was very nice.”
Bankert said she hopes to make this an annual event.
In Vancouver, Marius Malciu joined a convoy of approximately 350 vehicles which left Langley for North Vancouver, before turning south through downtown and on to Vancouver International Airport, then finishing near the South Surrey border crossing which held daily rallies last year in support of the Freedom Convoy.
In an interview with The Epoch Times, Malciu said he was encouraged by the unity and support, particularly outside of Vancouver.
“People are united and they keep going on and trying to wake people up,” he said.
Cheryl Payne spearheaded a convoy from Nanaimo to Victoria on Vancouver Island, her first attempt organizing an event like this. And while she told The Epoch Times this wasn’t going to be her last, she found herself inspiring people to take a cause important to them and to fight for it.
“I found a lot of people have asked me why are we gathering,” Payne said. “It doesn’t matter what issue, just bring it forward, be united, and show a presence with numbers. Maybe a few issues will get more attention from people who didn’t realize there are other people standing up for the same cause.”
Payne is planning a larger Vancouver Island convoy on Feb. 18, “which also happens to be the day in Ottawa when we all got booted out by the armed forces that came in and kicked our butts,” she said.
