The Freedom Convoy was an attempt to profit off people's fears and undermine Canada's democracy, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed during an interview Tuesday.."It's more of a deliberate attempt to fundraise, to make money off of people's fears, to shift the narrative and undermine trust in institutions, to just sew chaos in our democracy and in our society," the prime minister said.."And they are using very, very powerful tools to do that. Social media and the online world have developed in a way that actively and deliberately harms Canadians.".Trudeau made the comments in an exclusive interview with his long-time friend Terry DiMonte, who was a radio broadcaster for 43 years. DiMonte asked the prime minister about all the criticism he received since being elected back in 2015.."In my opinion, the culture has gone nuts. I've seen people behaving in ways I'd never expected they would behave," DiMonte said. "The kind of words you've used, like 'vitriol' are eye-popping. How do we change that?".Trudeau responded being at the "top of the pyramid" as the prime minister, the blame for everything in Canada tends to fall on him. He added he tries not to take criticism personally. ."But you have people throwing rocks," DiMonte responded, referencing the Ontario man who threw gravel at Trudeau on Sept. 6, 2021 during an election campaign stop. Shane Marshall, a member of the People's Party of Canada, was charged with assault with a weapon..During the 2021 election, one of Trudeau's main campaign promises was to bar unvaccinated Canadians from many aspects of society, making it impossible for them to travel on planes and trains, or work in the public sector. This was on top of provincial restrictions that prevented unvaccinated Canadians from entering bars, restaurants, museums and gyms..The prime minister pointed out when his campaign office opened up in Montreal in 2008, there were "about 150 out front protesting massively against me." But Trudeau said Canadians will always speak out in protest, especially when politicians are "trying to do anything of consequence.".However, Trudeau said he's now concerned with "echo chambers" online, which is what worried him about the Freedom Convoy protests. He said while many Canadians chose not to get vaccinated for COVID-19 due to cultural, religious or philosophical reasons, the issue was when they tried to convince others not to get vaccinated.."You will have heard the same stories I had did, of families, broken hearts, sitting beside someone's bed saying 'he didn't get vaccinated. We didn't know what was real. We thought the vaccine was worse than the virus. And now dad's dying and we wish he hadn't believed that website,'" Trudeau said to DiMonte..The prime minister made no mention of Canadians who were harmed by COVID-19 vaccines and wished they had not gotten them — an attitude felt by many vaccine-injured that reached out to the Western Standard..READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Vaccine-injured Canadians search for answers.Trudeau continued, claiming vaccine-hesitant Canadians were preying on people's fears in order to spread mistrust in the federal government and its institutions. ."People prey on that, amplify it, and end up endangering people's minds. And that's where my responsibility is," Trudeau said. "I'm someone who loves this country and tries to bring it together, but when there are people who are actively trying to do harm to their fellow Canadians, I sort of can't shrug it off. I can't not not speak up and say, 'Hey, that's not what you should be doing.'"."I may use saltier language than that," Trudeau added.
The Freedom Convoy was an attempt to profit off people's fears and undermine Canada's democracy, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau claimed during an interview Tuesday.."It's more of a deliberate attempt to fundraise, to make money off of people's fears, to shift the narrative and undermine trust in institutions, to just sew chaos in our democracy and in our society," the prime minister said.."And they are using very, very powerful tools to do that. Social media and the online world have developed in a way that actively and deliberately harms Canadians.".Trudeau made the comments in an exclusive interview with his long-time friend Terry DiMonte, who was a radio broadcaster for 43 years. DiMonte asked the prime minister about all the criticism he received since being elected back in 2015.."In my opinion, the culture has gone nuts. I've seen people behaving in ways I'd never expected they would behave," DiMonte said. "The kind of words you've used, like 'vitriol' are eye-popping. How do we change that?".Trudeau responded being at the "top of the pyramid" as the prime minister, the blame for everything in Canada tends to fall on him. He added he tries not to take criticism personally. ."But you have people throwing rocks," DiMonte responded, referencing the Ontario man who threw gravel at Trudeau on Sept. 6, 2021 during an election campaign stop. Shane Marshall, a member of the People's Party of Canada, was charged with assault with a weapon..During the 2021 election, one of Trudeau's main campaign promises was to bar unvaccinated Canadians from many aspects of society, making it impossible for them to travel on planes and trains, or work in the public sector. This was on top of provincial restrictions that prevented unvaccinated Canadians from entering bars, restaurants, museums and gyms..The prime minister pointed out when his campaign office opened up in Montreal in 2008, there were "about 150 out front protesting massively against me." But Trudeau said Canadians will always speak out in protest, especially when politicians are "trying to do anything of consequence.".However, Trudeau said he's now concerned with "echo chambers" online, which is what worried him about the Freedom Convoy protests. He said while many Canadians chose not to get vaccinated for COVID-19 due to cultural, religious or philosophical reasons, the issue was when they tried to convince others not to get vaccinated.."You will have heard the same stories I had did, of families, broken hearts, sitting beside someone's bed saying 'he didn't get vaccinated. We didn't know what was real. We thought the vaccine was worse than the virus. And now dad's dying and we wish he hadn't believed that website,'" Trudeau said to DiMonte..The prime minister made no mention of Canadians who were harmed by COVID-19 vaccines and wished they had not gotten them — an attitude felt by many vaccine-injured that reached out to the Western Standard..READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Vaccine-injured Canadians search for answers.Trudeau continued, claiming vaccine-hesitant Canadians were preying on people's fears in order to spread mistrust in the federal government and its institutions. ."People prey on that, amplify it, and end up endangering people's minds. And that's where my responsibility is," Trudeau said. "I'm someone who loves this country and tries to bring it together, but when there are people who are actively trying to do harm to their fellow Canadians, I sort of can't shrug it off. I can't not not speak up and say, 'Hey, that's not what you should be doing.'"."I may use saltier language than that," Trudeau added.
