Change of tone at the Conservative Party: interim leader Candice Bergen asks anti-sanitary measures protesters to pack up after giving them her support. She also calls for a plan to lift all federal health measures within three weeks.
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Mme Bergen echoed voices in his party openly calling for a tougher line, pointing out that the protesters had made their voices heard.
“Today I ask you to drop the blocks. Demonstrate peacefully and legally. It is time to remove the barricades and the trucks for the good of the economy and because it is the right thing to do,” she declared in the Chamber.
Less than a week ago, M.me Bergen was asking protesters outside Parliament to “remain peaceful,” not asking them to leave, and on January 25, days after the protest began, she published a letter in which she defended truckers opposing compulsory vaccinations. .
To the “freedom convoy” occupying Parliament Hill in Ottawa were added even more damaging demonstrations, notably at the Ambassador Bridge linking Windsor to Detroit and another in southern Alberta. Protesters even joined the Ottawa airport Thursday morning, while other demonstrations in provincial capitals are on the agenda this weekend.
The interim leader of the Conservative Party appealed to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau a few days ago to bring together party leaders to find a solution to the impasse, a proposal supported by Bloc Québécois leader Yves- Francois Blanchet.
In a press briefing on Thursday, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said that “people feel abandoned by the federal government”. “I have no idea how the Prime Minister of Canada can sit around and do nothing. The prime minister of a G7 country can’t solve this? The Prime Minister of one of the richest countries in the world cannot ensure that people are safe in the capital?
Photo archives, QMI Agency, Johnna Ruocco
A plan for the end of the measures
Along with her speech, Candice Bergen tabled a motion in the House asking the government to present a comprehensive plan by February 28 for the lifting of all mandatory federal health restrictions.
“Countries like Ireland, Sweden, Norway, Israel, the Czech Republic, the UK, Spain and Denmark are all removing restrictions and mandatory health measures, despite vaccination rates lower than those of Canada,” she said.
Mme Bergen says that after “two years of isolation,” “Canadians just want to get back to their lives.”
Nothing like this seems to be planned at the moment at the federal level. In an email Thursday, Health Canada said it was “continually evaluating the latest available scientific data and monitoring the situation to determine when to relax or adjust border measures accordingly.”
Although most of the health restrictions are imposed by the provinces, the federal government mainly has powers related to borders, transport and travel.
It is Ottawa which, for example, imposes screening tests before and after the arrival of travelers, even if they are doubly vaccinated. The border measure is the origin of compulsory vaccination for truckers crossing the border with the United States.
It is also Transport Canada that requires proof of vaccination to set foot on trains, planes and cruise ships, even for domestic segments.
The Trudeau government is advocating caution in loosening the measures, but the Prime Minister nevertheless admits that “people are fed up”. “Vaccination remains the best way out of the pandemic”, reiterates all the ministers.
The DD Theresa Tam, head of the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), said recently that governments can start to reassess the appropriateness of the most restrictive measures, but in a cautious way.
According to the latest data from federal public health, nearly 85% of the total population in the country has received at least one dose of the vaccine against COVID-19, while the threshold of 40% of people who have received a third dose has already been reached.
Several provinces have unveiled their deconfinement plan since the beginning of February.
The government of François Legault announced its complete deconfinement schedule on Wednesday. Thus, he indicated that most of the health measures will be lifted from March 14, 2022.