Trudeau Defers Questions About Freedom Convoy Anniversary to Poilievre, Saying He’s ‘Closer’ to It

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked on Jan. 17 to share his thoughts on the protest movement that took the country by storm a year ago and how he believes it evolved, but he said the question should instead be asked to Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre.

“I think that’s a better question to ask Mr. Poilievre, he seems a lot closer to the convoy,” Trudeau said during his visit of a Stellantis automotive plant in Windsor.

The prime minister acknowledged that people are worried and frustrated about the current situation and insinuated that Poilievre is attempting to tap into the discontent.

He said politicians can either try to “amplify those fears,” make people angrier without offering “real solutions,” or deliver things that will make people more confident about the future.

Trudeau said the way forward is for the government to invest in assembly lines like Stellantis’ and social programs like dental care and childcare.

The Liberal government announced a $529 million investment in Stellantis plants in Brampton and Windsor in May 2022 to increase the production of electric vehicles.

Childcare deals have been struck with every province, with an identified price tag of $30 billion over five years in Budget 2021.

The dental care benefit for children, which the NDP pushed for in its deal to keep the Liberals in power, has been in effect since late 2022 and is expected to cost $703 million, according to a Parliamentary Budget Officer estimate from October.

“It can pay off to drum up anger, and encourage people to wave flags,” Trudeau said in alluding to Poilievre’s stance towards the Freedom Convoy, “but if you actually want to deliver a better future for Canadians, you want to reassure them that there is a bright future for them, and their communities and their families.”

Poilievre has been saying lately that Trudeau “broke” Canada with his fiscal and soft-on-crime policies.

“Everything is broken in this country right now, whether it’s the 40-year high inflation that Justin Trudeau has caused through his inflationary deficits, whether it’s the 35-years old living in their parents’ basements,” he said in November in Vancouver, which is struggling with homelessness, crime, and addiction crises.

Poilievre also said in November that he stood by his support expressed for the Freedom Convoy truckers protesting against vaccine mandates last year and that he would comment further after the public inquiry into the use of the Emergencies Act issues its report.

The Liberal government invoked the act to deal with cross-country protests and blockades last winter which demanded the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions.

Following the public hearings last fall that heard from Trudeau, other stakeholders and participants in the events, the inquiry must table a final report in Parliament by Feb. 20 as required by law.

Calling Names

After saying that some politicians are stoking anger to score politically, Trudeau was asked by a reporter during his press conference whether he regretted calling the Freedom Convoy protesters “conspiracy theorists and people with tinfoil hats.”

“My responsibility, as a prime minister, is to stand up for people’s safety, people’s well-being in this country,” he said.

He said people have died from COVID-19 because they watched “nasty YouTube videos” which influenced them to not get a shot.

“Canadians kept each other safe during the pandemic, in spite of those who are mistakenly telling everyone and deliberately telling everyone that getting a vaccine was worse than getting COVID,” he said.

“So no, I will not back off on making sure that we are keeping Canadians safe.”

Trudeau’s approach to COVID-19 vaccination was criticized by a former member of his cabinet.

Former finance minister Bill Morneau said on Jan. 17 that the Liberal Party should not have used the issue of vaccination to make political gains during the last election.

He said Trudeau used the vaccine mandate as a “wedge issue,” echoing a comment made by current Liberal MP Joël Lightbound in February 2022.

“If you don’t want to get vaccinated, that’s your choice, but don’t think you can get on a plane or a train besides vaccinated people and put them at risk,” Trudeau had said on the campaign trail.

The COVID-19 injections were later shown to have limited protection against infection and the government imposed the travel mandate knowing there were low risks of transmission on aircrafts.

The products were brought to market and mandated by governments and businesses while still in phase 3 clinical trials with no data on long term effects.

A growing number of physicians and scientists are saying they should be removed from the market due to side effects such as myocarditis, a type of heart inflammation.

“Given alternative causes are unlikely to cause myocarditis within one week of vaccination, this is essentially conclusive evidence that we’re seeing sudden cardiac deaths from the vaccines,” says U.S. physician Dr. Joseph Fraiman, who has reanalyzed the original Moderna and Pfizer trials.

Zachary Stieber and Peter Wilson contributed to this report.