OTTAWA, Jan 30: Concerned over security, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has fled his residence in Capital Ottawa with his family for an unknown destination as tens of thousands of truckers blowing their air horns non-stop, protesting against covid vaccine mandate and lockdowns, converged on his office premises menacingly and then marched up and down the streets under the banner of 'Freedom Convoy,' on Saturday. The demonstrators banged pots and pans close to Trudeau's windows.

Earlier, he had called the marching truckers a 'small fringe minority.' However, it gradually grew into a frightening 50-km long convoy of demonstrators carrying placards reading, 'God keep our land glorious and free,' 'Make Canada great again' and 'We are here for our freedom,' covering a distance of 3,700 km, starting from British Columbia, in extreme cold. Began as a protest against vaccine requirement to cross the US border, the demos later joined by others en route acquired larger political overtones targeting the Trudeau Government. The incident echoes what has been happening dittoo across the US in the past two years of the covid pandemic.

Both Canada and the US had imposed the vaccine requirement along the border early this month. Since January 15, all Canadian truck drivers who are unvaccinated must take a covid test and quarantine when driving back from the US.

However, it is ironical that most truckers are among the 90 per cent adults already vaccinated in the country.