More than $1M raised to cover costs for anti-vaccine convoy protest | CTV News

A movement, called Freedom Convoy 2022, is only a week old but the Alberta organizer of a fundraising campaign to support the event has raised more than $1.4 million for the effort.

The campaign was started by Tamara Lich, a Medicine Hat woman who says she is in opposition to the federal government's rules and regulations in regards to the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the GoFundMe page, the money is expected to go toward the cost of fuel, food and accommodation for the protesters who are participating in the convoy.

As of early Saturday afternoon, it's raised $1,611,200.

Last week, the federal government said it made an error when it claimed it would be exempting Canadian truck drivers from a vaccine mandate rule when it came to crossing the Canada-U.S. border.

Instead, Ottawa said the regulation would be in place for all truck drivers, no matter their country of origin, to combat the spread of the Omicron wave of COVID-19.

Many in the trucking industry protested the move, saying it would negatively impact shipping because of the additional requirement.

Others took their arguments a step further, joining in a movement to drive to the nation's capital to protest on Parliament Hill in person, a move reminiscent of the action taken by truckers that pushed Ottawa to support the oil and gas industry and the construction of pipelines.

The Freedom Convoy 2022 is expected to stop in Calgary on Sunday night and leave for Regina the following day.