Bergen pushed O'Toole to back convoy saying there are 'good people on both sides': sources
Interim Conservative Leader Candice Bergen pushed predecessor Erin O’Toole to show support for the Freedom Convoy protest, arguing last week there are “good people on both sides,†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’Toole and other members of the Conservative shadow cabinet that there were “reasonable people†at the truckers’ 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’s priorities and planning committee in a boardroom of Parliament’s West Block. O’Toole was present at the meeting but didn’t 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’ 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’Toole was first reticent about aligning with the protest, he did meet individually with some truckers last week, at a truck stop about an hour’s drive outside of Ottawa.
Bergen’s 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 “I don’t think we should be asking them to go home†and proposed that the party “turn this into the PM’s problem.â€
She also shared pictures of herself visiting on the Hill with protesters from her home province of Manitoba, tweeting that, “They deserve to be heard and they deserve respect.â€
Trump’s phrase – “very fine people on both sides†– 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’Toole as leader.
On Friday afternoon, she released a statement calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to provide a “clear plan to end the situation in Ottawa.†The protest is now in its seventh day.
She also called on truckers in Ottawa to “â€please remain peaceful. Call out and denounce any acts of hate, racism, intolerance or violence.â€
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca ÐÇ¿Õ´«Ã½
BREAKING Israeli military says it has carried out a 'targeted strike' in Beirut
The Israeli military said it carried out a 'targeted strike' in the Lebanese capital Beirut on Friday.
The province's public security minister said he was "shocked" Thursday amid reports that a body believed to be that of a 14-year-old boy was found this week near a Hells Angels hideout near Quebec City.
Since she was a young girl growing up in Vancouver, Ginny Lam says her mom Yat Hei Law made it very clear she favoured her son William, because he was her male heir.
Cognitive decline reduced by MIND diet, especially for women and Black people, study finds
Following the MIND diet for 10 years produced a small but significant decrease in the risk of developing thinking, concentration and memory problems, a new study found.
An Ontario man says it is 'unfair' to pay a $1,500 insurance surcharge because his four-year-old SUV is at a higher risk of being stolen.
The Montreal couple from Mexico and their three children facing deportation have received a temporary residence permit.
Federal firearm buyback program has cost $67M, still not collecting guns after 4 years
The federal firearm buyback program has cost taxpayers nearly $67.2 million since it was announced in 2020, but it still hasn't collected a single gun.
Lawyers say former Harrods boss Al Fayed was a 'monster' who abused women and girls
Lawyers representing dozens of women who say they were raped and sexually abused by Mohamed Al Fayed, the former boss of the famous London department store Harrods, said the case was akin to the crimes of sex offenders Jimmy Savile, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein.
NEW Health data collected from Indigenous Peoples in Canada has a dark history. One Indigenous company is turning that around
Software company Mustimuhw Information, which develops medical records systems built on a foundation of Indigenous traditions and values, is allowing health providers to capture data informed by cultural practices.
Local Spotlight
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.
A Good Samaritan in New Brunswick has replaced a man's stolen bottle cart so he can continue to collect cans and bottles in his Moncton neighbourhood.
David Krumholtz, known for roles like Bernard the Elf in The Santa Clause and physicist Isidor Rabi in Oppenheimer, has spent the latter part of his summer filming horror flick Altar in Winnipeg. He says Winnipeg is the most movie-savvy town he's ever been in.
Edmontonians can count themselves lucky to ever see one tiger salamander, let alone the thousands one local woman says recently descended on her childhood home.