In the morning, a convoy will travel up Hw. 401 near Sweaburg Rd and go up Hwy. 19 from Tillsonburg for a rally at the TA Travel Centre. Protestors from the Chatham area plan a parallel demonstration in Wallaceburg.
More tractors will converge on the 401 at Wallbridge Road near Belleville, en route to the Ten Acre Truck Stop for a rally; while two convoys will move along Hwy. 417 into Ottawa before parking at the Central Experimental Farm.
Hillier stressed this new "Stop the Destruction" protest is not meant to target motorists and truckers, but instead the provincial and federal Liberal governments for, what he says, are arbitrary confiscatory practices and regulatory burdens placed on deer and elk, tree, and tobacco farms; as well as sawmills, abattoirs, and cream industry businesses.
In fact, Hillier expects many truckers will sympathize with the farmers' plight. "I would imagine some truckers -- especially (one truck) operators -- would share some of our concerns," he told TodaysTrucking.com.
Hillier says about 1.8 million acres of private land has been devalued with no compensation under Ontario's greenbelt preservation policy.
More recently, The City of Ottawa and the province designated 650 acres west of Stittsville as wetland. OLA says about 60 homes and farms were drastically devalued and frozen for development, without compensation.
"This is what happens when you don't have property rights in (Canada)," Hillier says.
-- with files from the London free Press