Around 100 trucks blockaded the road running past the Canadian parliament building.

“These demonstrations are national in scope, they’re massive in scale,” Ottawa police chief Peter Sloly said as he voiced concern about the possibility of a lone wolf attack.

Protesters waved Canadian flags and carried banners urging people to “Think for yourself” – a slogan adopted by the anti-vaxxer movement.

The protests though loud were peaceful. A group of demonstrators provoked anger by dancing on the tomb of the unknown soldier. Their behaviour was described as “beyond reprehensible” by defence minister Anita Anand.

Demonstrators, who are supported by an array of conservative groups, said they intended to spend the weekend to push their demand for an end to vaccine mandates.

“We want to be free, we want to have our choice again, and we want hope – and the government has taken that away,” Harold Jonker, a truck driver and trucking company owner, told the BBC

“I’ve never done anything like this in my life. I’m 53 years old and this is the hill I’m going to die on. Do not tell me I have to put something in my body,” Lorraine Commodore, a convoy supporter, told CBC News on Saturday.