Vancouver mayor Kennedy Stewart and US senator Ted Cruz are embroiled in a verbal showdown on Twitter about the massive “freedom convoy” of Canadian truckers protesting against vaccine mandates.
Mr Cruz weighed in on Canadian affairs after Mr Stewart, Vancouver mayor, released a statement on 5 February, urging protesters to “go home” to make their point ahead of truckers' planned protests in the city.
“As the Mayor of a city with an over 95 per cent vaccination rate, my message to the convoy is this: Vancouver doesn’t want you here. Make your point and then go home,” the statement by Mr Stewart said.
Sharing the statement, the Republican senator said “folks might feel differently with empty shelves” as the “mayor says ‘Vancouver doesn’t want’ truck drivers there”.
Mr Stewart fired back and said: “Can someone tell @tedcruz our store shelves are fine thanks to the 90% of Canadian truckers who are fully vaccinated.”
“Too busy high-fiving all the awesome folks in #Vancouver that are helping push back against the,” Mr Stewart said with hashtag #hateconvoy.
The tweet, however, did not put an end to the Twitter war as Mr Cruz directed another potshot at the Canadian mayor asking if the stores have gasoline.
“Do your shelves have gasoline? I know some really cold truckers who need it…,” Mr Cruz said in his latest tweet.
This comes as the ongoing protests for more than a week pushed the Ottawa mayor to declare a state of emergency on Sunday.
Jim Waston noted the situation is"completely out of control” as he made the announcement, as demonstrators outnumbered the police.
The so-called “freedom convoy” rally was triggered after the government introduced a new mandate to only allow fully vaccinated trucks to cross the US-Canada border last month.
However, the protests have sparked a broader threat to the measures to control the spread of Covid as thousands of truckers joined the demonstrations.
The protesters have gathered in downtown Ottawa near Parliament Hill, paralysing Ottawa’s centre with trucks and tents blocking the road.
The announcement comes as the city’s police officials said the situation had spiralled into “a nationwide insurrection” and protests spread from Ottawa to Toronto and Quebec city over the weekend.
Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly said that around 7,000 protesters and 1,000 vehicles had descended on the streets of the nation’s capital alone.
As the situation turns tense in Canada, Republicans such as former president Donald Trump and Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene took the opportunity to push back against Covid mandates and supported the protesters.
Mr Trump said in a statement during the weekend: “The Freedom Convoy is peacefully protesting the harsh policies of far left lunatic Justin Trudeau who has destroyed Canada with insane Covid mandates. Now, thankfully, the Freedom Convoy could be coming to DC with American Truckers who want to protest Biden’s ridiculous Covid policies.”
