Nova Scotia government bans planned Trans-Canada Highway border blockade

Order will remain in effect as long as there is state of emergency

Blair Rhodes · CBC News ·

The Nova Scotia government is moving to head off a protest planned for the province’s border with New Brunswick this weekend.

In a statement late Friday afternoon, the Emergency Management Office issued an order that prohibits protesters from blockading the Trans-Canada Highway at the border.

The order also applies to people stopping or gathering along the side of the highway, both at the border and at the toll plaza for the Cobequid Pass, the highway that runs through northern Nova Scotia to the New Brunswick border.

The order specifically names the 2022 Freedom Convoy — the name organizers have attached to a trucking protest that has seen convoys of vehicles from across Canada converge on Ottawa for protests this weekend. A contingent left from Enfield, N.S., on Thursday.

According to the release, the order also applies to the Atlantic Hold the Line Event, which has been described in social media posts as a border blockade planned for Saturday at 1 p.m.

Fines could range up to $10,000 for individuals and as high as $100,000 for corporations.

The order will remain in effect as long as the provincial state of emergency exists. That state of emergency has been extended every two weeks and currently runs to Feb. 6.