Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre stopped in to show his support for axe-the-tax protesters who have been camped out on the border of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick since Trudeau’s carbon tax hike was implemented.
Poilievre was on his way between events in Atlantic Canada and saw the protest on the side of the highway. He then decided to stop at the encampment, outside of the Nova Scotia Visitor Information Centre in Fort Lawrence, Nova Scotia on Tuesday.
“It was probably around 7:30 pm, two black Suburbans came down and pulled in,” Tommy Everett, a protester who has been with the encampment from the start, told True North.
“We originally thought that it was police, come and try to clear us out of the area. So I walked out there, and was going to confront them and tell them that we weren’t leaving,” he said. “I come around the car and I met Pierre face to face.”
Everett said he visited for about 20 minutes.
Justin Trudeau criticized Poilievre for the visit at a press conference saying he is a leader who will exacerbate divisions, fears and polarization and accused him of welcoming the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists.
He said the impromptu event showed Poilievre meeting with “members of Diagalon.”
Diagalon is a fictional country created by controversial podcaster Jeremy Mackenzie, who Poilievre denounced in Sept. 2022.
“If Justin Trudeau is concerned about extremism, he should look at parades on Canadian streets openly celebrating Hamas’ slaughter of Jews on Oct. 7,” a spokesperson for Poilievre told True North in an email.
In a video recorded by Everett, Poilievre can be seen speaking with protesters as they showed him how they’ve been living in the encampment.
One protester said they would stay until November if the carbon tax isn’t dropped.
“A good ol fashioned Canadian tax revolt,” Poilievre said. “Lets keep it up and bring it home!”
Everett said Poilievre’s presence was appreciated and encouraging.
“For him to come down, with his stature and status, and just sit with us when nobody else that powerful, has even come down or even called us…gave us a little bit more fuel to keep going,” Everett said. “We’re not terrorists. We’re not racists. We’re not misogynists. We’re not any of that stuff that Trudeau paints us with a brush as. We’re just everyday people.”
In the video, one man, gesturing his head towards a “F*ck Trudeau” flag, asked Poilievre, “Can I get a picture with you beside that?”
Poilievre laughed and said they should do it somewhere else.
“Have you seen what I do to him in the House of Commons every day?” he said.
One protestor replied, “We see him not answering any questions, is what we see.”
Another protester can be heard expressing his gratitude for Poilievre showing up to meet with them. “You never thought you’d see something like that,” he said.
While talking with Everett, Poilievre called Trudeau a liar.
“(Trudeau) would make people believe his lies, everything he said was bullshit from the top to the bottom, everything…he said he was going to help the middle class,” Poilievre said. “If you can’t afford a home you can’t afford food, you’re in poverty.”
Everett told True North there are about 10 people who stay “24/7” at the encampment between Amherst, Nova Scotia and Aulac, New Brunswick.
Police Liaison have told the crew that they can stay in the encampment as long as they remain peaceful as they aren’t blocking any roads.
On the weekends it’s more lively, he said one night the crowd swelled to what he estimated to be over 150 people.
The protest was organized over the encrypted messaging platform Signal and was supposed to be part of a national protest against the carbon tax taking place on all interprovincial borders in the country, but Everett said the encampment is one of two protests in the country left standing.
