PM defends decision
Trudeau joins large protest on Parliament Hill
OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said it was important for him to attend a Black Lives Matter protest on Parliament Hill Friday, despite public health advice he has personally delivered to Canadians, about avoiding large groups to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“To look out the windows of my office and see thousands upon thousands of young people, of Canadians of all ages stand in solidarity, wanting to see change happen, I felt it was important for me to be part of that,” he said. “To be able to listen, to be able to hear people and to be able to understand and to share with people how important it was to act.”
Trudeau joined the large protest Friday afternoon on Parliament Hill with thousands of people and kneeled with other demonstrators in recognition of the death of Minneapolis man George Floyd, who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Several members of his cabinet either joined the prime minister or took part in similar events in other parts of the country.
Most of the protesters in Ottawa wore masks, but they were also packed together during the event leading to concerns COVID-19 could spread during the event.
The Liberal government has encouraged people to avoid large events for weeks and suspended parliament due to the public health risk from COVID-19. Trudeau said he took precautions at the event, but maintains it was important for him to be there.
“As best I could, I followed social distancing measures, wearing a mask, keeping distance where possible. But I recognize that it is a difficult situation where we are trying to balance very important competing interests.”
The Ontario government’s rules as of Friday discouraged any gathering of more than five people and advised people to stay home as much as possible to limit the spread of the virus.
Conservative leader Andrew Scheer said he believes Trudeau sent a conflicting message to Canadians by attending the protests.
“I can understand why people are upset and confused after months of being told that they need to stay home, after months of being told that they need to listen to the advice of public health officials,” he said. “After all the hardship that people have gone through, to see the prime minister completely ignore those guidelines.”
Canada’s chief public health officer said protests are important, but that doesn’t change the science around the risk they present.
“Canadians have a right to protest and racism, anti-black racism is a longtime in the making and is a health-equity issue,” she said. “On the other hand, mass gatherings, particularly situations where there are large crowds, where physical distancing is difficult to achieve, does create a public health risk.”
She advised anyone who attended a large demonstration to monitor their symptoms and said health authorities would be looking for trends.
“It is quite a difficult situation to control and I think public health will be looking for any increases in transmission, because it is a setting of risk.”
On the broader issue, Trudeau said his government has taken some steps, including collecting more race-based data through Statistics Canada, but a lot more needs to be done to solve the problem.
“The intention has been there to fight systemic discrimination in this country. We now need to do even more in terms of actions to make sure that gets done,” he said.
“The reality is that many people in this country simply do not feel protected by the police. In fact, they’re afraid of them.”
Trudeau said he intends to discuss body cameras with provincial premiers this week and he personally believes police should wear them and is hopeful there won’t be broad resistance to the measure.
“These are discussions we need to go forward on, on the logistics, on the cost, on the cost to provinces where there is contract policing in place. But the challenges that I’ve heard are more logistical and economic concerns.”
He said policing is a major issue of concern, but it is not the only place he sees systemic racism and he intends to address the whole issue.
“Systemic discrimination and racism in Canada goes much further than just policing. It’s about poverty and mental health. It’s about the fact that people are all too often treated like criminals, instead of receiving the support that they need.”