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February 8th, 2022

Jagmeet Singh asks Liberal government to take action on the convoy crisis

OTTAWA — Today, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is reiterating his call for the Prime Minister to show leadership and to work on a plan to put an end to the convoy crisis that is terrorizing neighborhoods across the country. Ottawa residents have been under siege for almost two weeks now and, with government leadership lacking, locals have taken it upon themselves to organize counter protests or apply for court injunctions to stop the constant noise from the occupation. In the vacuum of federal leadership, a Liberal MP held a press conference today to criticize his party’s lack of leadership or plan to end the crisis.

“Local citizens, healthcare workers and front lines workers across the country continue to be harassed and assaulted in their community. Today we are hearing a Liberal MP and former parliamentary secretary attacking his own government's handling of the crisis,” said Singh. “How can Canadians have confidence if members of the governing party do not even have confidence in their own government? Since the beginning of this crisis, the lack of leadership from the Prime Minister and his team has been striking. They are looking more for excuses not to act than for solutions that help Canadians.”

Yesterday, Singh and the NDP initiated an emergency debate to find solutions to this crisis and laid out some concrete steps the Prime Minister can take:

  1. Meet immediately with all municipal leaders impacted by the convoy to discuss a path out of it and proactively offer support: Ottawa (ON) Coutts (AB), Sarnia (ON) and other cities and borders being targeted
  1. Considering the significant amount of funding coming from the U.S., get in touch with the U.S. administration to shut down the funding coming from the U.S. that is interfering in our democracy.
  1. Work with Provinces and Territories on a clear plan to get to an end of this pandemic. Including:
  • Better access to rapid tests to stop the spread of COVID.
  • More work to encourage better uptake for a booster shot for all Canadians.
  • An emergency plan to rescue the healthcare system on the brink of collapsing.
  • A global vaccination plan to stop new variants from developing.
  1. Work with the minority government on the other real issues that Canadians are going through to help them make ends meet as the cost of living continues to skyrocket. And find solutions that help people, not the ultra-rich.

“It was encouraging to see the Prime Minister come out for the debate after more than a week of being absent in the middle of a crisis. But it shouldn’t take opposition parties raising these concerns for him to finally engage. Even members of his own party are saying we need a plan to end this pandemic and to help Canadians come out of this pandemic stronger,” said Singh. “New Democrats will continue to push the Liberal government to take action and we will continue to fight to help Canadians get out of this pandemic even stronger than before.”