Interim leader of the Conservative Party Candice Bergen refuted the claims made by legacy media about the Freedom Convoy in an interview with Evan Solomon on CTV’s Question Period.
Bergen referred to claims made over the weekend that the Freedom Convoy intended to overthrow the government as misinformation and a diversion from the Trudeau government’s demonization of Canadians who aren’t Covid-19 vaccinated.
“We very much support Canadians who were and still are against the mandatory vaccines. We don’t believe that they should be wedged, called names, stigmatized. We don’t think they should be set aside. Our job is to listen to Canadians. We don’t always have to agree with what they’re talking about. We don’t agree with everything that they want to do,” said Bergen.
“The people who protested here in Ottawa were there as you know hundreds and thousands of them. They were upset, they wanted to be heard and we as Conservatives believe that they deserve to be heard and we wanted the prime minister to listen.”
In the interview, Bergen reaffirmed her demand for the resignation of Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino for misleading Canadians by saying that law enforcement had asked the Liberals to use the Emergencies Act to disperse the peaceful protesters.
“He used it as his argument more times than I think we can even recall,” said Bergen. “This was one of their main arguments: police were asking for it. We now found out that is not true. That’s not the only area where he misled. He said that foreign funding funded the protest. That wasn’t true. They made accusations against the protesters that they set fires in apartment building in Ottawa. That was not true.”
The government and legacy media have made numerus key claims about the Freedom Convoy that have all been de-bunked in official testimonies including something as series as an arson attack on an apartment building.
In a recent memo obtained through a Access to information request it was discovered the department’s own director-general of its central operation centre for the convoy told Mendicino’s office there was no violence and convoy organizers were being respectful.
“No violence took place in the National Capital Region despite national protest for a wide variety of causes,” the memo stated. “Overall assessment: The majority of the event was peaceful. Since most government employees are working remotely, the disruption to government activities is so far minor.”
Emails dated to Feb. 1 law enforcement acknowledged that convoy organizers were urging protesters to be respectful of the law
“Urges to keep patient work with law enforcement. No violence or threats of violence. Do not take anger out on police officers or fellow officers,” the email read.
