'It has to stop': Canada's Justin Trudeau returns to Parliament for Ottawa blockade emergency session

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday night that the "Freedom Convoy" that has ensnarled Ottawa's business district with hundreds of parked big-rig trucks for a dozen days is "trying to blockade our economy, our democracy. and our fellow citizens' daily lives. It has to stop." The people of Ottawa, he added, "don't deserve to be harassed in their own neighborhoods."

Trudeau lambasted the protesters in a speech to an emergency session of the House of Commons, and it was his first public appearance since he tested positive for COVID-19 on Jan. 31, two days after the trucks rolled into Ottawa. Trudeau said all Canadians are tired of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the restrictions at the center of the protest won't last forever and the vast majority of Canadians support "science" and public health measures. "A few people shouting and waving swastikas does not define who Canadians are," he said.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.