The Canadian prime minister, who tested positive for Covid-19, railed against protesters for violence, racism and spreading misinformation.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada on Monday lashed out at protests against pandemic restrictions over the weekend in Ottawa, chastising demonstrators for desecrating war memorials, wielding Nazi symbols and stealing food from the homeless. The protest was a culmination of a group of Canadian truckers and their supporters who drove from Western Canada to Ottawa to challenge government vaccine mandates. Speaking from self-isolation after he and two of his children tested positive for the coronavirus, Mr. Trudeau said he understood the frustrations of Canadians, exasperated by a pandemic that has taken a heavy toll. But he criticized the protesters for flying “racist flags,” hurling abuse at small business owners, spreading disinformation and, in one case, going to a homeless shelter in downtown Ottawa and demanding food. “There is no place in our country for threats, violence or hatred,” he said, adding that the convoy was not representative of a majority of truckers,90 percent of whom are vaccinated. An Ottawa law enforcement spokeswoman said Monday that the police had begun several criminal investigations following the desecration of monuments and other threatening behavior during the weekend protests in Canada’s capital. A loosely organized “Freedom Convoy” of trucks initially began as a response to a regulation requiring truckers returning from the United States to show proof of vaccination. But the protest grew into a more general rallying cry by people opposed to pandemic restrictions and to Mr. Trudeau. During the weekend protests, the House of Commons was not in session and many lawmakers were not in town. Some people said they planned to continue to protest as Parliament resumed on Monday, even as the numbers of protesters were dwindling. The demonstrations dominated social media in Canada and received wide media coverage. Ottawa police on Monday said 8,000 protesters had been in downtown Ottawa on Saturday, a small fraction of the numbers claimed by some convoy participants and organizers. Ahead of the demonstrations, Mr. Trudeau dismissed the protesters as a “small fringe minority” and said they would not lead his government to reverse the vaccine mandate.
