O’toole to meet with truckers

Calls convoy a ‘symbol of fatigue, division’

Conservative Leader Erin O’toole says a truckers convoy heading to Ottawa is a symbol of the fatigue and division being felt in Canada and that he will meet with the truckers on Friday to hear their concerns.

And he appealed for all political parties to call for calm and let the protesters have their voice heard.

He said there were groups using the plight of truckers to bring “division and hatred.”

“And we need to call that out and stamp it out because it’s also depriving people’s ability to have their voice heard in Ottawa,” said O’toole. “So I’m calling on everyone... regardless of how you feel about the pandemic, whether you’re Liberal, Conservative, NDP, let’s call for calm.

“Everyone deserves to have their voice heard in a peaceful protest. That is a democratic right. So let’s take the temperature down. And make sure we work together as Canadians in a time of crisis. Not against one another.”

He added, “The convoy itself is becoming a symbol of the fatigue and the division we’re seeing in this country. So tomorrow I will be meeting with truckers to hear their concerns, to talk about the proposals I brought three weeks ago to try and make sure we can keep grocery store shelves full, keep people working and work together.

“And I would ask Canadians that are frustrated by the convoy, or frustrated by people that may not yet be vaccinated, let’s work together as a country.

“We shouldn’t divide people over their personal health choices in a pandemic.”

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau decried the “fringe” views among some of those who were supporting the trucker convoy.

“The small fringe minority of people who are on their way to Ottawa who are holding unacceptable views that they are expressing do not represent the views of Canadians who have been there for each other, who know of that following the science and stepping up to protect each other is the best way to continue to ensure our freedoms, our rights, our values, as a country,” Trudeau said.

Trudeau said Thursday he will isolate for five days after being exposed to COVID-19, although he has tested negative for the virus.

Meanwhile, the sergeant-of-arms of the House of Commons warned MPS to go “somewhere safe” if there is a protest outside their home or office. He said there had been attempts to have the home addresses of MPS posted online.