EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated to clarify that the prime minister’s comments were disrupted by protesters, rather than drowned out, and provide additional context about the yellow vest movement.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was disrupted by yellow vest protesters who yelled some hateful messages during a housing announcement in Toronto Friday afternoon.
Trudeau was in Scarborough, in the city’s east end, to announce a $1.3-billion partnership with Toronto to renovate more than 58,000 Toronto Community Housing units.
Through the agreement, the federal government will contribute $530 million directly and another $810 million in loans over a decade.
As Trudeau took the podium, he could barely be heard over a small group of hecklers.
A man using a megaphone could be heard calling the prime minister a traitor and claiming he “pander(s) to minorities” and the United Nations.
Trudeau continued to deliver his speech despite the disruption.
WATCH: Yellow vest supporter escorted from Justin Trudeau town hall
Video and photos taken at the announcement show a handful of protesters wearing yellow vests. One had a “make Canada great again” poster.
The populist yellow vest movement started late last year in France to protest the price of gasoline and high cost of living.
Since then, the yellow vest has been adopted by groups elsewhere — including in Canadian cities, where there have been much smaller protests with a different message.
Canadian demonstrators have supported the oil and gas industry but white nationalists and far-right elements in the group have focused their criticism on the United Nations Global Compact on Migration and immigration.
Yellow-vesters have also expressed opposition to the Trudeau government and the federal carbon tax.
–With files from Hannah Jackson
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