TORONTO—Hundreds of farmers from across Ontario shut down a section of Highway 401 January 21 between London and Ingersol. The “Stop the Destruction Convoy” protested lack of aid to farmers from the Ontario Liberal government and a series of impending pieces of legislation. The convoy consisted of 232 vehicles, including 95 tractors, and stretched six kilometers (nearly four miles). Tobacco farmers from the region waiting for provincial aid money were prominent in the action, organized by a coalition called Rural Revolution. “If people in your factory were going broke, wouldn’t you picket?” tobacco farmer Frank Schonberger told the London Free Press. The convoy was scheduled to reach Prescott, Ontario, February 4, where organizers said they intend to shut down the international bridge to the United States. A tractor convoy will join the protest and travel through downtown Toronto on its way to the Ontario-Quebec border February 18. The actions will culminate March 9 in a demonstration at the provincial legislature in Toronto.

—JOHN STEELE  
 
 
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