“The Conservatives have taken the cause of trucker convoy protesters to the floor of the House of Commons, advancing a push for the federal government to present a plan to lift all federal COVID-19 mandates,

while calling for the blockades to come to an end.

I believe the time has come for you to take down the barricades, stop the disruptive action, and come together. The economy that you want to see reopened, is hurting,” said Interim Conservative Leader Candice Bergen in the House of Commons on Thursday morning [Feb. 10].

“I believe this is not what you want to do…You’re protesting because you love your country, you want your freedom back. To the protesters here in Ottawa, you came bringing a message, that message has been heard.”

Bergen made these remarks as she was presenting a motion from her party that will force a vote calling on the federal government to present a plan to lift all federal COVID-19 “mandates and restrictions” by the end of the month.

Through its opposition day motion on Thursday, the [alleged] Official Opposition is having the chamber spend most of the day debating its proposal to see the federal government present this plan by Feb. 28, citing provinces beginning to lift COVID-19 restrictions and referencing a comment from Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam where she suggested existing measures should be “re-evaluated.”

In her opening speech presenting the motion, Bergen called the “Freedom Convoy” that has occupied the precinct around Parliament Hill and other locations in the city and has now prompted blockades at border crossings in Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario, an “international phenomenon.”

Her calls to see the protests cease come after she and other Conservative MPs spent the last two weeks supporting the convoy’s aims and meeting with truckers. Last week, Bergen suggested internally that her party should make it Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s problem to solve.

Now, Bergen is imploring colleagues from all parties to come together to play a role in ending the impasse and restoring “peace and order,” while allowing Canadians to “get back to their normal life.”

Responding during question period, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau slammed the Conservatives for spending the last few weeks “endorsing and enabling these blockades across the country,” and said the consequences of this “are having dire impacts.”

Bergen had also been calling for a meeting between all party leaders, and late Thursday night Trudeau convened a virtual meeting with opposition party leaders to discuss the current situation.

“Everyone in this country is sick and tired of lockdowns and quite frankly, of COVID-19. But Canadians also know that the way through this pandemic is by listening to science is by following public health advice,” said the prime minister….

The federal government has implemented COVID-19 vaccine mandates for air, rail and marine travel; for public servants; and in federally-regulated sectors such as cross-border trucking, though the vast majority of restrictions and other measures such as curfews and capacity limits are provincial jurisdiction.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, who is facing continued questions over what role the federal government is playing in seeing these blockades end, said he was encouraged to see that the [alleged] Official Opposition leader [Ms. Bergen] “has finally come around” to call for the “illegal blockades” to end.

The motion is slated to come to a vote on Monday.”

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