Barnes: Why Trudeau Should Resign

Independent MLA Drew Barnes issued the following statement in opposition to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s decision to invoke the Emergencies Act:

“Across both our province and country, a majority of citizens feel it is time for governments to end pandemic era restrictions.

“Policies like vaccine passports and vaccine mandates, which run contrary to the rights and freedoms of Canadians, were implemented as temporary measures only.

“Ottawa’s vaccine mandate for cross-border truckers, and its ban on international travel for unvaccinated Canadians, are both striking examples of policies that infringe on Canadians’ constitutionally protected rights and freedoms. Both offer increasingly limited health or safety benefits as the pandemic transitions to endemic.

“To those governments and senior officials who are attempting to cling to emergency powers permanently, I have this to say: “We see you. And like those hard-working, tax-paying participants in the freedom convoy who you attempted to malign and dismiss, we will not be deterred.”

“Justin Trudeau may think it politically advantageous to invoke the Emergencies Act to crack down on non-violent protests. However, by invoking far-reaching emergency powers simply to cling to other temporary pandemic policies, he has proven himself to be everything the freedom convoy participants are protesting against.

“Trudeau has failed to meet the standard required to invoke these powers. His blatant attempts to use fear and propaganda to divide Canadians is unacceptable. He is acting in bad faith with this staggering overreaction.

“History will not be kind to this failure of a Prime Minister, and he should immediately resign so that freedom, order, and good government can be restored.”