In her latest social media post, Peterborough-Kawartha Conservative MP Michelle Ferreri is calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to meet with protesters to end the ongoing anti-COVID-19 restriction demonstrations in Ottawa.
On her Facebook page on Wednesday, the MP said she has met with protesters and Ottawa police to discuss the impasse that entered into its sixth day. She also said she has “listened” to emails from Ottawa residents calling for an end to truck air horns and from those “who want their city back.”
And she says she’s heard from supporters of the demonstration which have been calling to an end to COVID-19 vaccine mandates and other public health restrictions amid the pandemic.
“The paradox of the situation is the disruption these protestors have created is the essence of what they are protesting: a disruption to their life,” wrote Ferreri.
“Does two wrongs make a right?”
Ferreri says she has seen “unity” at overpasses as truckers headed to the nation’s capital and seen “far right extremists on the ground which I openly condemn.”
“I’ve seen Albertan separatists unite with Quebec separatists,” she said.
Ferreri said the protest — which has attracted thousands — was “inevitable.”
“I think we had to hit this boiling point because of the divide and mental health crisis,” she wrote. “This protest started as one thing and quickly grew into something entirely different. What I hear from protesters is that they want all sides to be considered.
“They’ve asked me that we don’t look just at public health when making decisions but that we include mental health and the economy.”
The demonstrations have sparked some outrage including incidents of individuals sporting Confederate or Nazi flags on Parliament Hill, blasting truck air horns continuously, carrying signs denouncing health measures and Trudeau, harassing business owners and media, defecating on residential lawns, urinating on the National War Memorial, dancing on the Tomb of the Unknown Solider, going maskless at the Rideau Centre mall and stealing food from the homeless.
On the day many protesters arrived on Parliament Hill, Ferreri in social media posts said the truck convoys were bringing “hope.”
“What I see happening — that I haven’t seen in over two years — is hope,” she said on Friday, Jan. 28. “That is the thing we need so desperately. And you are giving hope.”
On Jan. 30, Ferreri tweeted “Real Canadians, don’t let the few ruin the many” in response to a tweet from Global News’s Ottawa bureau chief David Akin who reported on some protesters cleaning up trash on streets.
Ferreri on Wednesday said the only resolution is for Trudeau to “acknowledge them” and to “negotiate.”
“I remember the best advice I heard in business and I think it needs to apply here as well. Negotiation,” she said. “A great negotiation is when both parties leave feeling like they should have gotten a bit more.”
“We need a great negotiation here, but if the Prime Minister refuses to meet, there is no option to negotiate. Many of you have asked me to provide solutions. My proposed solution is that the Prime Minister act as a leader and meet with these protestors ASAP.”
Trudeau on Tuesday said he “won’t give in” to the so-called “freedom convoy” protest in downtown Ottawa.