Bay of Quinte MP Ryan Williams stands with the convoy crossing the country to protest the federal vaccine mandate for truckers.
In a statement released Wednesday afternoon, Williams offered his support saying he’s spoken with some Quinte manufacturers who are concerned the mandate will cripple and target their already limited supply.
Williams calls the truckers mandate just the beginning of the story saying the continued strain on supply chains is not a shortage of product, but a shortage of people.
He says prior to COVID, Canada was short 18,000 truckers but that number has ballooned to 26,000.
He says while the Conservative Party believes in vaccines, they do not support mandates and, in order for life to get back to normal, the government has to get out of the way and find solutions that bring Canada forward, not backward.
Read Williams’ official statement below:
Bay of Quinte MP Ryan Williams Says He Stands with Truck Drivers
Belleville – 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.
