Truckers due to arrive in Ottawa today to protest COVID-19 vaccine mandate in Canada

(Reuters) -Canadian truck drivers determined to shut down central Ottawa over a federal government vaccine mandate rolled across the country toward the capital on Thursday (January 27).

The protesters are unhappy that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal government has imposed a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for cross-border truck drivers. Anti-mandate protesters, many carrying Canadian flags, lined the roads to cheer the truckers as they passed through Toronto en route to Ottawa.

The truckers are due to arrive on Friday and aim to park their rigs on Parliament Hill, paralyzing downtown traffic.

Organizers insist the demonstration will be peaceful.

Some protesters, however, have talked about blocking hospitals, assaulting Trudeau and even a coming civil war.