Conservative leadership front-runner joins march against vaccine mandates


The front-runner in the Conservative Leadership race joined a march against vaccine mandates in Ottawa Thursday  as party fractures continue to emerge over how closely members should associate with protestors gathering in Ottawa for Canada Day

Army reservist James Topp marched through Ottawa Thursday in protest of vaccine mandates. Conservative leadership candidate Pierre Poilievre joined him for part of the walk, and appeared in videos online chatting with Topp and others protesters.

“Today I walked alongside military veteran, James Topp, who has travelled the country by foot for free choice,” Poilievre said in a Tweet. “End all mandates. Restore our freedoms. Let people take back control of their lives.”

Military police charged Topp in February with two counts of conduct to the prejudice of good order and discipline for comments made while wearing his uniform. Topp has since been leading a four-month march to the capital from Vancouver.

When asked for comment on Poilievre’s decision to join the protest, the Poilievre campaign directed CBC News to remarks he made to CTV News at the march.

“I think that [Topp] is advocating freedom of choice. People should have the freedom to make their own decisions with their own bodies and that’s why, I think, he’s walked across the country and that’s why I thought I would give him a greeting and give him a hearing and see if he has any thoughts to share with me,” Poilievre told CTV.

It’s not the first time prominent Conservatives have met with anti-vaccine mandate protesters, including Topp. Last week a group of Conservative MPs, including leadership candidate Leslyn Lewis, met with organizers of the Freedom Convoy which occupied Ottawa in February.

Support for the Freedom Convoy protests has also been a contentious issue in the campaign’s leadership debates, with candidate Patrick Brown accusing Poilievre of supporting Pat King, one of the Freedom Convoy’s leading figures. Poilievre denied the charge, but defended his support of those protesting vaccine mandates.

Another leadership candidate, former Quebec Premier Jean Charest, has also gone after Poilievre over his support of the convoy protesters.

“Mr. Poilievre … supported an illegal blockade,” Charest said in the first debate. “You can’t make laws, and break laws.”

Conservative leadership hopeful Pierre Poilievre, left, and Patrick Brown share an exchange during the Conservative Party of Canada French-language leadership debate in Laval, Quebec on Wednesday, May 25, 2022. Poilievre’s support for the Freedom Convoy protesters has been a contentious subject in the leadership debates so far. (Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press)

But in a media statement Thursday, Charest placed blame for the current protests on the Trudeau government.

“This latest protest is a symptom of Trudeau’s leadership failures,” Charest said. “He continues to show more interest in wedge politics than moving out of this pandemic. Bottom line, so long as the protest remains peaceful, Canadians have the right to voice their frustrations.”

Topp paused his march and drove to Ottawa to attend the meeting, which took place in a government building near Parliament Hill. Topp said he invited all MPs to attend, though only about 20 — all Conservatives — did. A spokesperson for Interim Conservative Leader Candice Bergen said her office was aware of the event, but did not help organize it.

The Conservative Party is expected to release the party membership list to leadership campaigns later Thursday. The new Conservative leader is expected to be announced on September 10.



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