Justin Trudeau says he’s feeling well after testing positive for COVID-19

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This article was published 30/01/2022 (963 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA—Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday he is feeling well and has no symptoms after testing positive for COVID-19.

But at a midday news conference on the day Parliament was to resume, he took direct aim at disruptive protesters who have latched onto an anti-vaccination truckers’ convoy, and Conservative politicians who he said are pushing disinformation.

Trudeau revealed in a Twitter post that he received the positive test result Monday morning. He has been in isolation since last Wednesday, when he first revealed he’d had a positive contact.

He said two of his children have now contracted COVID-19.

Speaking outdoors, Trudeau said, “It’s a big challenge that my family and I are facing,” but that “there’s nothing unusual or special about it. It’s a challenge too many Canadians and people around the world know all too well.”

He denounced the behaviour of some protesters involved in a large demonstration in Ottawa over the weekend against COVID-19 vaccination mandates for truckers.

Canadians were “shocked and, frankly, disgusted by the behaviour displayed by some people protesting in our nation’s capital,” Trudeau said.

“I want to be very clear: we are not intimated by those who hurl abuse at small business workers and steal food from the homeless,” he said.

“We won’t give in to those who fly racist flags. We won’t cave to those who engage in vandalism, or dishonour the memory of our veterans.”

Trudeau called for that behaviour to stop, and for “anyone who joined the convoy but is rightly uncomfortable with the symbols of hatred and division on display (to) join with your fellow Canadians, be courageous, and speak out. Do not stand for, or with, intolerance and hate.”

The prime minister also hailed those Canadians and essential workers who are keeping grocery store shelves stocked and the health-care system running. “Canadians support you. We’re in your corner,” he said. “All of you — you are the story of this pandemic, not the convoy.”

Trudeau again thanked Canadian truckers who have been vaccinated, a number he put at 90 per cent, and appealed “to the politicians exploiting people’s fears: I ask you to think long and hard about the consequences of your actions.”

He took direct aim at Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole and his caucus members. “We have seen over the past many, many months Conservative politicians sharing disinformation about vaccines, encouraging conspiracy theories online,” he said. “And I think Erin O’Toole is going to need to reflect very carefully on how he’s walking a path that supports these people who do not represent truckers, let alone the vast majority of Canadians.”

Trudeau added, “If we choose to put up with and tacitly support, conspiracy theorists, and folks peddling disinformation, that’s a reflection on what we choose to do as politicians and who we are as leaders.”

Asked what he wanted done in response to the ongoing protest, the prime minister said he had faith in the police, but made it clear that he’d lost patience.

“First of all, I’d like to make sure that people are safe, first and foremost. That small businesses restaurants in Ottawa can get back to work, that citizens can go to their jobs, that parliamentarians can continue to do the important work of serving Canadians of upholding our democracy,” he said.

“Yes, there is a right to protest. There is a right to make your voices heard, loudly and clearly. There is not a right to shut down our democracy, our democratic processes. There is not a right to abuse, intimidate and harass your fellow citizens who are trying to go about their business, trying to live their lives and not necessarily in agreement with what you were doing.”

Trudeau expressed dismay but not surprise that some protesters still question the safety of COVID-19 vaccines.

“Yes, the concerns expressed by a few people gathered in Ottawa right now are not new, not surprising, are heard,” he said. However, he dismissed them as “a continuation of what we’ve unfortunately seen in disinformation and misinformation online conspiracy theorists about microchips, about God knows what else that go with the tinfoil hats.”

As the convoy of truckers arrived in Ottawa on Friday, Trudeau and his family moved from their usual residence at Rideau Cottage to another location in the national capital region.

He said science would continue to lead his government’s response to the pandemic as it has in the United States, which now also requires truckers crossing the Canada-U.S. border to be fully vaccinated.

Trudeau received his booster shot of COVID-19 vaccine on Jan. 4.

The Public Health Agency of Canada recommends booster shots, which prevent against severe illness but not infection.

That means a person can still catch COVID-19, but barring underlying health conditions, is far less likely to become very sick and require hospitalization or critical care.

As of Sunday, 82.7 per cent of Canadians over the age of five were fully vaccinated, according to the University of Saskatchewan’s vaccination tracker which updates using the latest provincial data.

Premier Doug Ford criticized the protesters in Ottawa who parked on the National War Memorial, danced on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and strung anti-vaccination messages on a statue of Terry Fox.

“The right to peaceful protest is core to our Canadian identity. I was extremely disturbed, however, to see some individuals desecrate our most sacred monuments and wave swastikas and other symbols of hate and intolerance this weekend. That has no place in Ontario or Canada. Not now. Not ever,” Ford said in a written statement released by his office.

Ford said Ontario was making “the first step in returning to normal” by easing some pandemic restrictions on Monday.

“All Ontarians are united in their desire to put this pandemic behind us and return to the life we knew before COVID-19,” he said.

With files from Robert Benzie

Tonda MacCharles is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @tondamacc