OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says he will neither meet with nor be intimidated by the convoy of Canadians he says spent the last few days harassing local businesses, waving Nazi flags and stealing food from the homeless.
Trudeau spoke to Canadians from isolation today after he tested positive for COVID-19.
But he says he only attends protests when he agrees with the cause, and not when demonstrators are expressing hateful rhetoric and engaging in violence.
Trudeau says every Canadian is sick of the pandemic but it will not end because protesters demand it, but by people getting vaccinated.
The sa国际传媒 Unity group that is the main organizer of the convoy is demanding an end to all COVID-19 restrictions, including vaccine mandates and public health orders, most of which are imposed by provincial governments.
Trudeau says politicians need to be careful about what they are supporting and says anyone in the crowd who is uncomfortable with the racist and hateful behaviour displayed by others needs to be courageous and call it out.
"I want to be very clear, we are not intimidated by those who hurl insults and abuse small business workers and steal food from the homeless," Trudeau said. "We won't give in to those who fly racist flags. We won't cave to those who engage in vandalism or dishonour the memory of our veterans."
Deirdre Freiheit, president of Shepherds of Good Hope, has said staff and volunteers at a soup kitchen fielded verbal abuse from protesters demanding meals over several hours.
Ottawa police have reached out to the shelter to investigate the incident. Police are also investigating the desecration of the National War Memorial and a statue of Terry Fox.
The crowds of thousands that turned downtown Ottawa into a gridlocked nightmare for locals over the weekend has dwindled, but most of the downtown core remains in a forced lockdown because of the convoy.
A few hundred people collected in front of Parliament Hill, and numerous commercial rigs still block most of Wellington Street in front of the Parliament Buildings.
Meanwhile, a truck convoy has blockaded an Alberta highway at a busy U.S. border crossing as part of a protest against vaccine mandates.
The sa国际传媒 Border Services Agency said the U.S. border crossing at Coutts, Alta., has remained open despite the blockade on Highway 4, but RCMP say only foot traffic is able to get through.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney said Sunday the blockade violates the province's Traffic Safety Act and must end immediately.
No arrests have been made.
The Alberta convoy was one of many in Canadian towns and cities that were held this weekend to coincide with a national convoy of truckers and their supporters in Ottawa.
In Victoria, thousands of people gathered outside the legislature on Saturday as the convoy arrived in Ottawa.
Draped in Canadian flags and carrying signs demanding an end to vaccine passport mandates, economic restrictions and in some cases mandatory vaccinations, thousands of people made their way to the lawns of the legislature.
There were those in the crowd, estimated by Victoria police to have numbered 5,000 at one point, who said they had been vaccinated but felt the restrictions and mandates had gone on long enough and it was time for the country to get back to normal.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 31, 2022.
By Mia Rabson, Mike Blanchfield and Stephanie Taylor, The Canadian Press, with files from the sa国际传媒
