OTTAWA -- Interim Conservative Leader Candice Bergen pushed predecessor Erin O鈥橳oole to show support for the Freedom Convoy protest, arguing last week there are 鈥済ood people on both sides,鈥� an echo of the phrase made infamous by former U.S. president Donald Trump after a Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017.
Bergen also told O鈥橳oole and other members of the Conservative shadow cabinet that there were 鈥渞easonable people鈥� at the truckers鈥� protest, just as there were in the violent attack on the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Her remarks came during a meeting of the party鈥檚 priorities and planning committee in a boardroom of Parliament鈥檚 West Block. O鈥橳oole was present at the meeting but didn鈥檛 directly respond, according to sources who were present.
Some in attendance were surprised she would evoke the Trump phrase in the context of the truckers鈥� convoy, which had yet to reach Ottawa.
The sources told CTV News that Bergen believed any political risk Conservative MPs might face if they attended or publicly offered support would be limited as long as they avoided any potentially inflammatory symbols.
As it happened, on Saturday, Alberta Conservative MP Michael Cooper was interviewed by CBC News with a flag bearing a swastika in the background. He later issued a press release condemning the symbols of hate seen at the protest.
Although O鈥橳oole was first reticent about aligning with the protest, he did meet individually with some truckers last week, at a truck stop about an hour鈥檚 drive outside of Ottawa.
Bergen鈥檚 office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday.
In an email Bergen sent Monday, obtained by CTV News, she told other MPs 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we should be asking them to go home鈥� and proposed that the party 鈥渢urn this into the PM鈥檚 problem.鈥�
She also shared pictures of herself visiting on the Hill with protesters from her home province of Manitoba, tweeting that, 鈥淭hey deserve to be heard and they deserve respect.鈥�
Trump鈥檚 phrase 鈥� 鈥渧ery fine people on both sides鈥� 鈥� drew heavy criticism when he used it to characterize the Charlottesville protest, where white supremacists marched with torches and Nazi and Confederate flags, chanting anti-Semitic slurs. One counter-protester was killed at Charlottesville.
The Conservative caucus chose Bergen as interim leader Tuesday night, after voting out O鈥橳oole as leader.
On Friday afternoon, she released a statement calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to provide a 鈥渃lear plan to end the situation in Ottawa.鈥� The protest is now in its seventh day.
She also called on truckers in Ottawa to 鈥溾�漰lease remain peaceful. Call out and denounce any acts of hate, racism, intolerance or violence.鈥�
