Canada’s Public Security Minister said on Monday that US officials should stay out of the neighboring country’s internal affairs and join other Canadian leaders in rejecting support some prominent Republicans have given to protests against the restrictions. a week.
A day after the city declared a state of emergency, the mayor called on nearly 2,000 additional police officers to help quell nighttime demonstrations staged by the so-called Freedom Truck Convoy, which has used hundreds of parked trucks to protect the Canadian capital’s business district. to a stop.
The protests have also outraged residents of the city center, including neighborhoods near Parliament Hill, which is home to the seat of the federal government.
“There are individuals who are trying to block our economy, our democracy and the daily lives of our fellow citizens,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in an emergency debate in parliament as protests continued outside. “This must come to an end.”
Trudeau said everyone is tired of COVID-19, but this is not the right way to protest. He said the restrictions won’t last forever, noting that Canada has one of the highest vaccination rates in the world. “Canadians trust science,” he declared.
“A few people yelling and waving swastikas don’t define what Canadians are,” he added.
There were also protests elsewhere. A demonstration of trucks and caravans at the Ambassador Bridge – the busiest border crossing between Canada and the United States – caused long lines of vehicles along the bridge on the Detroit side. And in Alaska, more than 100 truck drivers gathered to support their colleagues in Canada by driving the 10 miles that separates Anchorage from the Eagle River, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
Many members of the US Republican Party have made comments in support of the demonstrations, including former President Donald Trump, who called Trudeau a “far-left madman” who “destroyed Canada with insane COVID mandates.”
Protesters have said they will not leave until all vaccination mandates and restrictions to fight COVID-19 are lifted. They also called for the Trudeau government to be overthrown, though he is responsible for some of the restrictive measures, most of which have been put in place by provincial governments.
Some Republicans, such as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, complained that the fundraising site GoFundMe announced it would refund the vast majority of the millions of dollars raised by protesters.
The website reported that it had suspended funding for the protest organizers after finding that their actions violated its terms of service by engaging in illegal activities. Ontario Prime Minister Doug Ford recently called the protest an occupation.
In response, Paxton tweeted that “Patriotic Texans donated to the noble cause of Canadian truck drivers.” For his part, Republican Senator Ted Cruz told the Fox News network that “the government has no right to compel you to comply with its arbitrary mandates.”
Canadian Public Safety Secretary Marco Mendicino replied, “It is certainly not the Texas Attorney General’s concern how we live our daily lives in Canada in accordance with the rule of law.”
“We must be wary of possible foreign interference… Whatever statements a foreign official has made is unimportant. We are Canadians. We have our own laws. We will stick to it,” Mendicino emphasized.
