Convoy against COVID-19 restrictions returns to B.C. legislature for 2nd weekend

Police in Victoria advised people to avoid the area around the B.C. legislature building as protesters opposed to vaccine mandates and other COVID-19 restrictions once again descended on the city Saturday.

Live video streams of the event shared online showed crowds that looked similar to last weekend's demonstrations. 

Protesters lined the streets around the legislature and mingled on the lawn while people in vehicles honked and waved Canadian flags. Few, if any, could be seen wearing face masks, and some carried signs with profanity-laced anti-government messages and conspiracy theories about vaccines and journalism.

The Victoria Police Department said on Twitter after the event concluded that there had been no major incidents and no arrests made during the protest. 

VicPD estimated that between 4,000 and 5,000 people participated in last weekend's event. CTV News has asked the department for an estimate of Saturday's crowd size. This story will be updated if a response is received.

Protesters gathered in cities across Canada on Saturday in solidarity with the self-described "Freedom Convoy" that has been camped out in downtown Ottawa since last weekend.

The convoy began last month with a cross-country journey by truckers opposed to the federal government's mandate that all truckers crossing the border from the U.S. be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Truckers were joined throughout their route and in Ottawa by other people opposed to vaccine mandates, as well as by people opposed to the vaccines themselves, mask-wearing and other pandemic-related restrictions. Organizers have expanded the scope of the protests to include opposition to all COVID-19 rules.

Ahead of the gathering Saturday, VicPD announced it would be deploying temporary surveillance cameras around downtown, as it has done during other protests in the past. It also warned the public to expect traffic disruptions.

Mayor Lisa Helps also weighed in on Saturday's protest before it began, citing concerns expressed by businesses in the area after last weekend's event.

“As the capital city, we expect protests to take place and people to exercise their democratic right to gather and express their views," Helps said in her statement.

“However, emails from residents and businesses in the wake of last weekend’s protests show that some of the people involved in the protests went beyond the right to peacefully gather and infringed on the well-being and safety of others."

The mayor said she had received reports of pro-health-care-worker signs being egged, people using racist and anti-Semitic language, and people violating public health orders by entering businesses without masks.

"This kind of behaviour is unacceptable," Helps said. "My request is that this weekend’s protests respect the values of our city and do not promote hate or put our already struggling and much-loved local businesses at further risk.”