Despite turmoil and confusion over whether truckers would remain exempt from the vaccine mandate in January stemming from bureaucrats misinterpreting policy in more than one federal agency, the truckers protested at Emerson, MB on January 17. 
What appeared as a government flip-flop caught the trucking industry by surprise saying on January 12 that unvaccinated and partially vaccinated truck drivers crossing into Canada from the United States would remain exempt from the vaccine mandate.  
The feds flipped the next afternoon with a statement saying someone had sent the information out in error and the exemption would still end on January 15.  
On to the trucker’s protest January 17, Provencher MP Ted Falk posted a stand-up podcast on Facebook from outside the Emerson port of entry at the U.S. border.  
“What you see in the background here is truckers from right across the province, hundreds of them, protesting Justin Trudeau’s vaccine mandate. For over two years, our truckers, men and women who drove these big rigs back and forth across the border, were essential workers.” 
They were the heroes providing the necessary supply to feed the supply chain, putting groceries on store shelves and products in stores.  
“And today, Justin Trudeau is villainizing them and telling them that they need the vaccination or are no longer able to do their job.”
Rick Bergmann, chair of the Canadian Pork Council (CPC) said in a WhatsApp group for hog producers, “We all know that the U.S. border crossing requirements will create a big challenge on our farms. Animal care and animal welfare is job 1. The CPC continues to communicate and meet where possible with the federal transportation Ministers office, the Labour Minister’s office, Federal Ag Minister Marie-Claude Bibeau, and in contact with our U.S. counterparts.”  
Bergmann said the U.S. border is a concern but truckers unvaxxed cannot haul from one province to the next and efforts continue daily. He lauded the efforts of those who participated in the rally to raise the significance.  
Bill Campbell, president of Keystone Agricultural Producers (KAP) said farmers rely on a highly efficient transportation system to deliver products to market and receive essential shipments.  
“Any challenges to an already strained system can seriously affect the security of Canada’s food supply and the economic competitiveness of individual farm operations. The Government of Canada must ensure that farmers have timely access to domestic and international markets.” 
The Manitoba Pork Council general manager, Cam Dahl expressed those same concerns on a recent podcast. The entire pork production system is under strain and uncertain what could be coming next. 
Before this latest strain, the pork industry was short of trucks and drivers without pulling out additional trucks or drivers. Some of the larger trucking companies could lose up to 10 per cent of their drivers because of the mandates. 
Dahl said it’s not one-sided, as the U.S. is a significant market for weanling pigs coming out of Manitoba. 
Another member on the H.B. Hog WhatsApp group said the Maple Leaf processing plant at Brandon, MB asked if any of the Colonies would help move some trailers with product out of the plant and pull them to the plant in Winnipeg.  
Dahl of the MPC talked of reports from producers of some shipments cancelled even before the U.S. mandate came in. Pigs keep growing. Other reports indicated significant impacts on feed and feed ingredients that are coming north — or are supposed to be coming north. 
Rick Wall of Winkler, MB organizer of the trucker’s protest told Fox News truckers sit in their trucks for approximately 16 hours a day. Then, depending on how long the trip is, they may get out two or three times a day.  
He shared the experience of one of his company’s drivers, the first one that crossed after January 15, when the mandate kicked in on the Canadian side. He came into Manitoba with a load destined for British Columbia reloaded, came back home, about a seven or eight-day journey. However, when he gets back home, he’s still such a danger to society that he needs to quarantine before he goes back out on the road. •
— By Harry Siemens