TRENTON – Liberal leader Justin Trudeau was pelted by gravel and his campaign bus surrounded by angry protesters at an event yesterday.
He confirmed later that he was not hurt in the incident that occurred in London, Ontario, southwest of Toronto, according to the Anadolu Agency.
Trudeau, who, under Canadian election rules is not referred to as prime minister unless he is officially acting in that capacity, has been dogged by protesters at several campaign events as the federal election day, September 20, approaches.
One event had to be cancelled last week over safety concerns as Trudeau and his supporters were badly outnumbered by protesters who yelled racial slurs and profanities.
The protesters are upset because Trudeau backs coronavirus vaccinations and has said that all federal employees must be vaccinated against Covid-19 or they may be fired. He is also in agreement with pandemic lockdowns.
Yesterday, at a campaign event held before the London stop, a defiant Trudeau said he would not be intimidated by what he called “anti-vaxxer mobs”.
“Yes, there is a small fringe element in this country that is angry, that doesn’t believe in science, that is lashing out with racist, misogynistic attacks,” he had said.
Meanwhile, Trudeau, trailing in opinion polls, also attacked his main rival yesterday for waffling on gun control and vaccine mandates as the campaign enters its final stretch ahead of the polls, Reuters reported.
Conservative leader Erin O’Toole on Sunday scrapped a campaign promise to eliminate a ban on some assault weapons, a sensitive issue in Canada after mass shootings in recent years. Trudeau sought to capitalise on his opponent’s shift with just two weeks left to reverse his fortunes.
O’Toole “will say anything to try and get elected”, Trudeau told supporters at a campaign event in southern Ontario, Canada’s most-populous province. “That’s not leadership. That’s not integrity.”
After being criticised by O’Toole for calling the election two years early during a rising fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Trudeau assailed his rival’s opposition to vaccine mandates, including for his own candidates.
Trudeau said O’Toole was pandering to anti-vaxxers just as he had to the gun lobby. Anti-vax hecklers have shouted abuse and even death threats at Trudeau throughout his campaign.
“Erin O’Toole is at least taking some of his cues from (the anti-vax crowd),” Trudeau said.
“Canadians are beginning to see that that’s the future being offered by Erin O’Toole, a future of wishy-washy, weak leadership where he doesn’t stand up for what he believes in, doesn’t tell Canadians what he actually believes,” he said.
Speaking here, O’Toole refused to say how many of his candidates had not been inoculated. He has said those who are not vaccinated must be tested daily.
“Our approach, with respect to vaccinations, is we try and encourage and inform and work with people, but we will respect their personal health decisions,” O’Toole said.
Liberal strategists have said the crucial period of the campaign starts after Labour Day, because Canadians have been more focused until now on their summer vacations than the election.
There are two debates this week, one in French and one in English, the only occasions left in which all the candidates will face one another on national television ahead of the vote.
A rolling Nanos Research survey of 1,200 people for CTV on Sunday put the Conservatives at 34.9%, with the Liberals at 33.4%, and the left-leaning New Democrats at 18.9%. A day earlier, Nanos had the Conservatives at 35.5% and the Liberals at 33%. – Agencies, September 7, 2021
