Convoy rolls home after rallies on Parliament Hill

The United We Roll convoy is on its way home after holding rallies on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

Saskatchewan convoy organizer Jay Riedel joined Gormley from North Bay, Ont., to talk about what he called an emotional, eye-opening experience.

Riedel admitted the convoy didn’t include as many people as expected but their honking horns were loud.

“There wasn’t that many people in this convoy but I think our message got put out there. There’s no doubt about that,” he said.

Riedel believes the Liberal government may not have received the convoy organizers’ pro-resource message as they hoped but he put part of the blame on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“Our leader should have been out there to speak with us,” Riedel said.

He said the most eye-opening experience was travelling the thousands of kilometres to Ottawa, watching the message touch Canadians who showed their support along the way.

“Every town we came through, there was hundreds of people, in some places there were thousands of people, all in cars lining the streets. They’re waving Canadian flags and there’s kids out there; everyone’s wearing yellow vests,” said Riedel.

Some in the yellow vest movement have been criticized for hateful rhetoric against immigrants. The convoy was organized under the yellow vest banner, but organizers renamed it the “United We Roll Convoy” in an attempt to be more inclusive.

The convoy organizers didn’t know what to expect driving through Ontario. Riedel expressed a unifying feeling with supporters the organizers didn’t know they had in northern Ontario communities like Dryden and Thunder Bay.

“Ontario’s been huge, huge supporters. That’s what really opened our eyes,” said Riedel.

As the convoy drives west, Riedel expressed how the group of strangers that gathered over social media have also formed a special bond of their own.