Justin Trudeau.Photo: DAVE CHAN/AFP via Getty Images
Canadian Prime MinisterJustin Trudeauwaspelted with stoneson Monday during a brief confrontation with protesters at a campaign stop.
The 49-year-old Trudeau, who is running for reelection, was making a stop at a London, Ontario, brewery when people threw what reports described as “dime-size rocks” in his direction.
Trudeau later dismissed the incident to reporters on his party’s campaign plane, saying, “There was little bits of gravel. It’s no big deal,“according toThe Washington Post.
He also sought to minimize the backlash from some.
“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,” Trudeau said.
He continued, saying he would “not allow those voices, those special interest groups, those protesters — I don’t even want to call them protesters, those anti-vaxxer mobs — to dictate how this country gets through this pandemic.”
Last month, Canada announced a forthcoming policy requiring all passengers and staffers on commercial air flights in the country bevaccinated against the coronavirus.
Canada’s government will also require all federal workers to be vaccinated against the virus. The country’s government said the policy could go into effect as early as September.
As in North America, vaccine mandates have proved ahot-button issuefor voters in the country, with Trudeau’s conservative rival, Erin O’Toole, saying he was in favor of daily testing rather than enforced vaccinations.
“This is disgusting and I condemn these actions in the strongest terms possible. Political violence is never justified and our media must be free from intimidation, harassment, and violence,” O’Toole wrote in a tweet.
The stone-throwing incident came one week after Trudeau wasforced to cancela campaign event last week due to protesters deemed to be a security risk.
At the time, he said he understood the frustration among some of those protesting, BBC reports.
“We all had a difficult year. Those folks out protesting, they had a difficult year too, and I know and I hear the anger, the frustration, perhaps the fear,” he said last week.
Overall, Canada has reported more than 1.5 million cases and 27,000 deaths from COVID-19, according to aNew York Timestracker, which estimates that approximately 68 percent of the country’s adult population isfully vaccinatedagainst the disease.
source: people.com
