Dozens of local Liberal supporters, some with young children and dogs, gathered in a hotel parking lot in Bolton, Ont., northwest of Toronto, to hear Trudeau speak.
Dozens of protesters followed the Liberal campaign to the rally. They used expletives in chants, waved their middle fingers, and made references to the Nazis over megaphones as a line of police stood in front of them.
Protesters wait for Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau to arrive at a campaign event in Bolton, Ont. on Friday, August 27, 2021. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Sean Kilpatrick
|
---------ADVERTISEMENT---------
|
“That's a choice that they are expressing loudly and clearly,” Trudeau said Friday.
“But it's not just a choice that they're making for themselves. It's a choice they're imposing on others. We only finish with this pandemic if everyone steps up, not just for themselves, but for each other.”
However, Trudeau did not provide a direct answer when asked if he had special permission for more than the provincial limit of 25 people to crowd into the restaurant for his announcement.
Protesters who oppose masks, vaccines and lockdown measures to fight COVID-19 have dogged the Liberal leader on the campaign trail, but he has usually politely waved back and often yelled through his mask, “get vaccinated.”
Some have brought their children to yell at Trudeau, with one on Friday night holding an orange sign that read “I need freedom.” The crowd cheered when officials announced that Friday's event was cancelled. |
“Many families, some with young children, attend events such as these. It should be a positive experience, whatever their political affiliation,” the campaign said in a tweet.
It was an uncomfortable end to the second week of the campaign where health issues dominated the day's debate. The Liberals stressed the importance of vaccination against COVID-19, the Conservatives pledged to enhance benefits for seriously ill workers and the NDP outlined a prescription for universal pharmacare.
During a stop in Mississauga, Ont., Trudeau said a re-elected Liberal government would procure enough vaccines to ensure all Canadians have access to free COVID-19 booster shots and any needed second-generation vaccines.
Trudeau also promised a $1-billion fund to assist provinces and territories that usher in a requirement for proof-of-vaccine credentials for non-essential businesses, such as restaurants and gyms, as well as public spaces. |
British Columbia, Manitoba and Quebec are moving ahead with so-called vaccine passports, and Trudeau said he hoped Doug Ford would follow, saying it was time for Ontario's Progressive Conservative premier to listen to public health officials.
The Canadian Press learned later Friday that Ontario has plans to introduce a vaccine certificate system next week, a reversal from Ford's early claims that such a system would “split society.”
Visiting Thunder Bay, Ont., NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh called on the federal government to issue a national vaccine credential.
“Wouldn't it be easier to just have one central document that we get from the federal government and we can use in any province we travel to?” Singh said. “It would just make life easier.”
In Corner Brook, N.L., Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole said he would increase employment insurance benefits for ailing workers to 52 weeks from 26, a move that could help people fight life-threatening diseases like cancer.
“Canadian workers should know we have their backs if they become seriously ill,” O'Toole said.
“I'm sure that we have all known someone, a friend, a relative who has battled cancer. We all know how devastating it is. So, we can all imagine if, on top of all that, you also had to worry that your EI benefits were running out, and that you might not be able to put food on the table for your family.”
Singh pledged Friday to begin working with provinces immediately to deliver a single-payer, public pharmacare program for all Canadians.
The New Democrats say millions can't afford to take the medications they need and must skip doses, cut their pills in half, or even go without them.
“We know it doesn't have to be this way,” Singh said. “We know that we can actually work together to solve this problem.”
The NDP says negotiating prices with pharmaceutical companies would help make prescription drugs free, saving an average family $550 a year.
Asked how he would get countrywide buy-in for the plan, Singh said it would save money not just for people, but also for the provinces.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 27, 2021.