Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is giving no sign he’s willing to negotiate with the protesters occupying Ottawa who are demanding either an end to all vaccine mandates or a change in government.
The protest, now almost a week old, started in opposition to the federal government’s vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers. It has since expanded into a movement against broader public health measures to limit the spread of COVID-19, including provincial vaccine mandates, masks and restrictions.
During a Thursday press conference, Tamara Lich — the woman behind the now paused GoFundMe campaign that has raised more than $10 million to support the protest — insisted protesters plan to stay in the city until their demands are met.
“Let me assure the people of Ottawa that we have no intent to stay one day longer than necessary. Our departure will be based on the prime minister doing what is right, ending all mandates and restrictions on our freedoms,” she said.
“We will continue our protest until we see a clear plan for their elimination.”
One organizing group, Canada Unity, is demanding that government leaders either repeal the mandates or “RESIGN their lawful positions of authority immediately.”
WATCH | Military deployment ‘not in the cards’:
Using military to clear convoy ‘not in the cards,’ Trudeau says
11 hours ago
Duration 2:00
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says calling in the military to remove protesters in Ottawa is a serious decision that is not to be taken lightly and is ‘not in the cards right now.’ 2:00
In a statement late Thursday, Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said the RCMP is sending additional resources to assist Ottawa police at the request of Mayor Jim Watson.
On Wednesday, Ottawa Police Chief Peter Sloly said policing alone might not be enough to end the protest.
“This is a national issue, not an Ottawa issue,” he said. “I am increasingly concerned there is no policing solution to this.”
When asked if he’d ever consider negotiating directly with the protesters to get them to leave, Trudeau said that vaccine mandates were debated in detail during the September federal election.
“That is the decision Canadians took in the last election, by voting for parties that were supporting those mandates,” he told a virtual news conference Thursday.
“So having a group of people who disagree with the outcome of an election, who want to go a different way and bring in an alternative government, is a non-starter in a responsible democracy.”
On Wednesday, Sloly said the city is considering various options to end the disruption caused by the convoy protest — including requesting military aid from Ottawa, direct negotiation, a court injunction or the forced removal of protesters. All approaches on the table, he said, come with risks.
Daniel Minden, spokesperson for Defence Minister Anita Anand, told CBC News Wednesday night that the Canadian Armed Forces are not currently involved in law enforcement in Ottawa and have no plans to get involved.
“One has to be very, very cautious before deploying military forces in situations engaging Canadians. It is not something that anyone should enter in lightly,” Trudeau said Thursday.
“But as of now, there have been no requests, and that is not in the cards right now.”
Sask. Conservatives call for dialogue
The protest has picked up international support but it’s also causing frayed nerves in the city, as protesters continue to sound their horns and disrupt traffic at all hours. Protesters’ vehicles are restricting access to downtown Ottawa, causing the closure of businesses and service centres, a COVID-19 vaccine clinic and an elementary school.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson said Wednesday residents are being held “hostage in their own homes.”
Watson called on a handful of Saskatchewan politicians — including former Conservative Party leader Andrew Scheer — to apologize for publicly praising the “illegal action” of protesters.
On Wednesday, Saskatoon-Grasswood MP Kevin Waugh posted a picture to Twitter showing himself, Scheer, Battlefords-Lloydminster MP Rosemarie Falk, Moose Jaw-Lake Centre-Lanigan MP Fraser Tolmie and Sen. Denise Batters posing at the protest.
This is an absolute disgrace that you would come out & praise this illegal action that has caused stress and hardship to residents who have been putting up with horns blasting throughout the night and residents harassed for wearing a mask & businesses forced to close. Apologize <a href=”https://t.co/LqErhdndhp”>https://t.co/LqErhdndhp</a>
Waugh defended the visit, saying more politicians should meet with the protesters.
WATCH | Waugh refuses to apologize:
“I’m trying to defuse the tension,” says MP who met with protesters on Parliament Hill
5 hours ago
Duration 6:54
Saskatchewan MP Kevin Waugh says he won’t apologize for meeting with protesters on Parliament Hill, despite a call from the Ottawa mayor to do so. 6:54
“We don’t need tow trucks out here moving these people out. We need dialogue. We need dialogue from (Ontario Premier Doug) Ford provincially, Watson and most importantly, the Trudeau government,” he said.
Government House Leader Mark Holland said that despite the raucous protest, MPs will carry out their parliamentary duties.
WATCH | Mayor demands apology:
“Why reward bad behaviour?” Ottawa mayor criticizes politicians posing for photos at protest convoy
5 hours ago
Duration 8:41
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson is demanding an apology from Conservative politicians who posed for photos at the protest on Parliament Hill. 8:41
“We will not be bullied or deterred from doing the work of the nation,” he said heading into question period Thursday. “We were elected.
“In fact, one of the things that’s frustrating here is that more than 70 per cent of Canadians voted for parties that support vaccine mandates, that support taking appropriate public health measures to combat this pandemic. So we are not going to allow anybody to intimidate us from doing the work we were elected to do.”
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
