Protests continue in Atlantic Canada

NOVA SCOTIA-NEW BRUNSWICK BORDER (Feb. 23, 2000) — Protesting truckers defied a Nova Scotia court order to end their partial blockade of the Trans Canada Highway.

The injunction, which remains in force until Friday morning, is “just another piece of paper,” says Earl Germaine, president of the Truckers Association of Nova Scotia, and that it would be impossible for the police to enforce it. The threat of fines doesn’t work on these truckers, he says, who have nothing left to lose.

At least 400 18-wheelers lined the Trans-Canada Highway at the provincial border as they protested high fuel prices, declining rates, and highway tolls. Passenger cars were allowed through, but not commercial vehicles.

Hugh Fraser, spokesman for the Transportation Department, said the government would “not negotiate with bullies.”

In the Toronto area, several hundred drivers refused to work for a second day, and police began to ticket and fine truckers up to $1000 for their involvement in slow-moving convoys on major highways in Ontario.

Canadian Junior Finance Minister Jim Peterson said there’s not much the government can do about fuel prices; only a very small portion of recent increases relate to the federal fuel tax. Ontario Premier Mike Harris told reporters that truckers should turn to their employers for relief from high fuel prices, not the province.