Justin Trudeau anti-vaxxers anti-maskers Erin O'Toole Yves François Blanchet
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Trudeau: Erin O’Toole and Yves-François Blanchet want to justify the anti-vaxxers

by Lorraine Carpenter

Trudeau spoke about “the disturbing anger of anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers” and slammed his rivals for courting them during the campaign.

Liberal party leader Justin Trudeau held a press conference this morning to introduce his party’s election platform. Before discussing the contents of the 94-page document, he took time to speak about anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers and called out Conservative leader Erin O’Toole and the Block Québécois’s Yves-François Blanchet for courting that subculture ahead of the federal election on Sept. 20.

“Over the last little while, you’ve probably seen the disturbing anger of anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers. You might’ve seen them marching downtown against local businesses that are following public health rules, or yelling at a grocery store clerk or a server at your local diner, or even threatening people at one of our rallies. You probably also saw the concerning lack of clarity from some political leaders, and yes I’m talking about Erin O’Toole and Yves-François Blanchet, who seem to want to justify the anti-vaxxers because, after all, it’s their choice.”

Trudeau went on to promise financial support to provinces that roll out a vaccine passport system — so far that’s Quebec, B.C. and, to be announced today, Ontario — as well as legal protection for businesses that choose to mandate vaccinations.

“It’s your freedom I’m focused on,” Trudeau said, “the freedom of the responsible majority of us who are fully vaccinated, the freedom of our children under 12 who can’t yet get their shots, because that’s what’s at stake. And I will always stand up for your right to be safe, to be in places that are free from COVID-19, your right to not be forced back into lockdown. So we will stand firm on our commitment that federal public servants should be vaccinated. We will make sure everyone on your plane or train is vaccinated. We’ll protect businesses that mandate vaccinations from unjustified lawsuits and will pay for the rollout of proof of vaccination programs for every province and territory that steps up.”

Watch the ongoing press conference live and/or in its entirety below.

Justin Trudeau: Erin O’Toole and Yves-François Blanchet want to justify the anti-vaxxers

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by Lorraine Carpenter

Editor in chief
Lorraine Carpenter was born in Montreal and studied communications and journalism at Concordia. She co-founded Cult MTL in 2012 following 12 years at the now-defunct Montreal alt weekly the Mirror, where she worked in editorial as copy editor and music editor. She’s dedicated to supporting the cultural scene in Montreal.