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Trucker convoy against vaccine mandates rolls through Ontario en route to Ottawa – CBC.ca

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A convoy of truckers opposed to COVID-19 vaccine mandates is making its way through southwestern Ontario on Thursday, bringing traffic headaches while drawing scorn from some and praise from others. 

Hundreds of people gathered in London at a local truck stop and on an overpass across Highway 401, waiting for the convoy to arrive from Windsor and Sarnia, the region’s two border points with the United States.

People waved flags and drank coffee as the convoy’s arrival was delayed, in part due to a serious collision earlier in the morning that closed the eastbound lanes of the highway near Tilbury.

“I worked for two years to bring goods and services, and toilet paper and everything to everyone. We went through having no showers, no bathrooms, no food — we starved sometimes for days on end on the road — and nobody cared about us then, and now all of a sudden, they care,” said convoy trucker Bridgette Belton, who owns and operates her own rig running food products and containers between Canada and the United States. 

“My husband and I spend 269 days a year away from each other, away from home, working for Canada to bring their goods and services to market and to bring goods and services to Canadians.”

People lined the Wellington Road overpass in London, Ont., on Thursday, waving to truckers travelling from Windsor and Chatham, then it was onward to Ottawa to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandates. (Kate Dubinski/CBC)

The protest is being organized by Canada Unity, a group that opposes COVID-19-related measures.

Its organizers want Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government to drop the vaccine mandate for truckers crossing the Canada-U.S. border, and do away with other public health protections.

The convoy was to meet up with others from across Canada on Saturday in Ottawa for a large demonstration. 

Belton, of Wallaceburg, said she and other truckers will meet in Sarnia and Windsor before making their way via Highway 401 to Ottawa, with stops in Chatham, London and other municipalities.

Truckers heading for Ottawa from other parts of the country have been met with supporters. That also happened in southwestern Ontario, where people waved Canadian flags and honked in support of the convoy Thursday. 

Supporters of truckers opposed to COVID-19 vaccine mandates gather early Thursday at the Flying J Truck Stop in London, Ont., off Highway 401. (Kate Dubinski/CBC)

Ontario Provincial Police say they’re aware of the protest and plan to make sure truckers, supporters and other drivers are safe.

“The OPP’s role in a situation like this is simply to keep the public peace,” said police spokesperson Derek Rogers.

“We want to keep demonstrators safe. We want to keep motorists who are sharing the road with the demonstrators safe, and if anyone gathers to watch the convoy roll through, we want to ensure that those folks are safe, too.”  

Since the convoy of trucks and other vehicles left British Columbia for Ottawa, extremists and fringe groups have taken to social media to encourage followers to descend on the capital and destroy property and threaten elected officials, which has been denounced by the organizers.

Trucking groups oppose convoy

The Canadian Trucking Alliance and the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) have both come out against the convoy, saying 90 per cent of cross-border truckers are vaccinated. 

Some truck drivers are protesting the vaccine mandate for truckers who cross the Canada-U.S. border. (Jacob Barker/CBC)

“The government of Canada and the United States have now made being vaccinated a requirement to cross the border. This regulation is not changing so, as an industry, we must adapt and comply with this mandate,” said OTA president Stephen Laskowski. 

“The only way to cross the border, in a commercial truck or any other vehicle, is to get vaccinated.”

The OPP urged people lining highways and overpasses in support of the convoy to be aware of their surroundings and keep safe. 

People greet a convoy of truckers as they arrive in Thunder Bay, Ont., on Wednesday. (Marc Doucette)

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A linebacker at West Virginia State is fatally shot on the eve of a game against his old school

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CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.

The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.

Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.

West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.

Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.

“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”

Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.

West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.

“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”

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AP college football: and

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Hall of Famer Joe Schmidt, who helped Detroit Lions win 2 NFL titles, dies at 92

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DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.

The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.

One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.

“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”

Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.

“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”

Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.

Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.

In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.

“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”

Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.

Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.

Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.

“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”

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Coastal GasLink fined $590K by B.C. environment office over pipeline build

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VICTORIA – British Columbia’s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.

The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.

It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.

The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.

Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.

The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

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