OTTAWA, (Reuters) – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday said Canadians were disgusted by the behavior of some people protesting against COVID-19 vaccine mandates in Ottawa and said he would not be intimidated.
Dozens of trucks and other vehicles have jammed up the city center since Friday. Thousands descended upon Parliament Hill to complain about Trudeau, COVID-19 vaccine mandates and masking requirements but by mid-Monday afternoon, many had left.
Police said most demonstrators have been peaceful but local residents complained about blaring truck horns and some demonstrators using the streets as a toilet. Some also harassed a homeless shelter and demanded staff give them food – the shelter said on Twitter – while others flew Nazi flags.
“We are not intimated by those who hurl abuse at small business workers and steal food from the homeless,” Trudeau told a news conference.
“We won’t cave to those who engage in vandalism … There is no place in our country for threats, violence, or hatred.”
Senior members of the official opposition Conservative Party, which last year lost its third consecutive election to Trudeau’s Liberals, praised the demonstrators.
Trudeau said Conservative leader Erin O’Toole should “reflect very carefully on how he’s walking a path that supports these people who do not represent truckers.”
But the Conservatives say Trudeau is ignoring the pain of thousands fighting for their livelihoods.
“(Canada) is a raw nerve and the prime minister is jumping up and down on it again and again with his inflammatory rhetoric,” finance spokesman Pierre Poilievre told the House of Commons.
