Liberal MPs, while attending the party’s three-day national caucus retreat in Ottawa ahead of Parliament’s return on Monday, expressed serious concerns to reporters about American political influence in Canada. They called upon Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre to denounce Tucker Carlson.
Transport Minister Pablo Rodriguez was one of many MPs to address the reporters in both English and French.
“What happened last night is not acceptable. Is he going to condemn that? If he wants to run for Prime Minister, he should have the courage to condemn those words. It’s not acceptable in our country,” said Rodriguez.
Rodriguez added that extreme-right politics are already in Canada and that the Conservative party are the ones bringing it.
Reporters asked Rodriguez what he expected Poilievre to do, whether he wanted Carlson not to be let into the country.
“I think his words should be condemned. We cannot accept that in Canada. This is not us. This will never be us,” said Rodriguez.
The Minister of Heritage, Pascale St-Onge, echoed Rodriguez’s concerns that Canadian Conservatives were inviting the American far-right into Canada. She said that Tucker Carlson and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith were putting targets on the backs of Canadian politicians, such as Steven Guilbeault.
“What we’re saying today is that we don’t want this type of policy in Canada. We want men and women of all communities, of all origins, to feel comfortable running for office. We don’t want violent politics here in Canada and in the Liberal Party,” she said.
Liberal MP for Edmonton Centre, Randy Boissonnault, condemned Danielle Smith for inviting Tucker Carlson to Alberta.
“To bring the mouthpiece of the MAGA conservative far-right to Edmonton Centre to spew hate about LGBTQ2 people is beyond deplorable, and we won’t stand for it,” he said. “It’s completely unacceptable for the premier of any province to say that she wants to put a target on the back of any Canadian politician, and my friend and colleague Steven Guilbeault, simply for doing his job.”
“You do not summon the dogs of MAGA conservatism and somehow scare, try to scare us, and to try to incite violence against politicians of any stripe,” he said. “And if she would take her job seriously, she’d actually be focused on housing, on climate change, on actually solving the issues of Albertans, like forgetting her ridiculous proposal on CPP instead of trying to summon evil forces from the United States to try to take on one of our colleagues.”
Boissonnault said that the division seen in the United States had been brought North of the border, spewing hate speech about LGBTQ people.
“Conservative premiers, instead of doing their jobs, are trying to invite this wave of populism. It’s making newcomers nervous and fearful. People in the LGBTQ community do not feel safe,” he said.
Steven Guilbeault said that he was targeted at last night’s event.
“This increases political violence against everyone who runs for office in this country, whether they’re doing it at the municipal level, at the provincial level, or at any federal level,” said Guilbeault. “To incite violence against people who disagree with you, that’s not how things should be done in Canada.”
The only example provided of the allegedly inciting violence by any of the Ministers was that they said putting a target on someone’s back could insinuate violence.
Guilbeault said that it’s become more and more difficult to find people willing to run for municipal office because of the increasingly violent climate.
