Key figures in the convoy and related organizations’ protests were welcomed in parliament Wednesday by a group of Conservative lawmakers who assured them they had “allies” in Ottawa.
And while the group professes peaceful intentions for future demonstrations, they also warned that they believe Canada is on a “dark path”, deeply “divided”, even showing similarities with countries that are about to fall into a “civil war”.
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The press conference in Ottawa was scheduled to coincide with a conference of the Canada Citizens Coalition or C3, an umbrella group for various protesters related to the February convoy demonstrations that paralyzed downtown Ottawa and blocked several Canadian-US border crossings.
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The protests were allegedly sparked by opposition to federal vaccine mandates for cross-border truck drivers, but quickly turned into a festival of complaints with federal and provincial authorities.
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The federal liberal government has resorted to an unprecedented call for emergency powers to help police lift the blockade, and is now facing parliamentary scrutiny and judicial investigation into the decision.
According to James Top, one of the organizers who recently traveled from British Columbia to Ottawa to protest against these mandates, the movement is no longer linked to COVID-19 public health measures. Top, a 22-year-old Canadian veteran and current reservist, was charged in May with two misconducts for speaking about vaccine mandates while in uniform.
“Their problem is no longer so much with the mandates, but their satisfaction with the federal government,” Top said of the people he met during his march.
“There is a division in this country that I have never seen or experienced before – I have only seen it in a military zone.
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Wednesday’s press conference took place in the Valor building, just a few steps from Parliament’s hill, in what looked like a House of Commons committee room. It was not immediately clear how the group gained access to the room.
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But they were greeted by a number of Conservative MPs, including leadership candidate Leslin Lewis, Jeremy Patzer, Ryan Williams, Arnold Wirson and Dean Alison, among others.
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“The reality is that there is a political party that was represented around this table here today, there is a political party that stood in the House of Commons … and expressed the position you are here with today,” said the Saskatchewan MP. Jeremy Patzer.
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“You have allies. You’ve had allies all along, so I just wanted to encourage you to move on.
A spokesman for the office of opposition leader Candice Bergen said they were aware of the event but were not involved in organizing it.
“Conservatives believe that Canadians should be free to express their dissatisfaction with the government in a peaceful and lawful manner,” said Christopher Martin-Chan, a spokesman for Bergen’s office, in a statement to Global News.
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Top said the C3 group wanted to correct the perceived imbalance between government and citizens in order to find a “better balance”.
This was the original goal of the early convoy organizers, who suggested that they wanted to form a kind of civic assembly to work with the Senate and the governor-general to repeal public health mandates. The idea was rejected in early February, with organizer James Bowder saying it no longer reflected the goals of the wider protest movement.
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“We want to partner with the Government of Canada. One way or another, we must fix this country. It’s a mess, “said Tom Marazzo, a keynote speaker at the Ottawa convoy protests and a candidate for Derek Sloan’s Ontario party in the recent provincial election.
“James (Top) took part in the Civil War. I’m not saying this is going to happen here, but there are a lot of similarities that are, you know, suburban wars around the world, if you look at your history, “Marazzo added.
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“It simply came to our notice then. We are on a very dark path in this country. And we need help. ”
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Group C3 has planned a two-day conference in Ottawa that ends this Friday on what they call “Canada’s Rescue Summer.” Top will officially end his march on June 30 with an event at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
They also promised rallies every weekend from Canada Day until September 4.
– with a file from The Canadian Press
© 2022 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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