A recently resurfaced interview with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has some Canadians disgusted with the language the Liberal leader used when describing the country’s nearly 10 million unvaccinated men, women and children.
In the Sep. 16, 2021 interview which aired on the French-language program La semaine des 4 Julie, Trudeau referred to unvaccinated Canadians as “extremists,” among other derogatory terms.
“Yes, we will get out of this pandemic by vaccination. We all know people who are a little bit hesitant. We will continue to try and convince them, but there are also people who are fiercely against vaccination,” said Trudeau.
“They are extremists who don’t believe in science, they’re often misogynists, also often racists. It’s a small group that muscles in, and we have to make a choice in terms of leaders, in terms of the country. Do we tolerate these people? Or do we say, hey, most of the Quebecois people – 80% – are vaccinated. We want to come back to things we like doing. It’s not those people who are blocking us.”
Trudeau’s remarks caught international attention, with outlets such as GB News blasting the prime minister over his divisive tone.
Scottish TV presenter and documentary filmmaker Neil Oliver appeared on the network to accuse the prime minister of demonizing unvaccinated Canadians, describing his remarks as “borderline criminal.”
“He’s trying to turn a majority of his population against that group of people,” Oliver said, “and he’s doing that by seeking to demonize them by saying that they’re not just refusing the vaccine, they also hate black people and they hate women and we know it’s all right to punish people like that. So what’s next for Justin Trudeau? Does he finally go on television and just say “right, the time has come, let’s get them?!”
“He’s setting people up as being lesser, as being other, as being despicable, as being guilty of things that are socially unacceptable: misogyny, racism,” Oliver continued. “And to put those crimes onto people who are hesitant about an experimental medical procedure, I think it’s a disgrace, I think it’s borderline criminal.”
This is not the first time where Trudeau has sought to rile up resentment against the unvaccinated for political points.
In Aug. 2021, Trudeau referred to unvaccinated Canadians as “those people” and claimed without evidence that they were putting others at risk.
“And Erin O’Toole is siding with them?” Trudeau added. “Instead of with Canadians who did their part and stepped up?”
It was only a year ago that Trudeau expressed misgivings about bringing vaccine passports to Canada, claiming he was concerned about their divisiveness and that he respected legitimate reasons for not getting vaccinated.
“There are medical reasons, there are a broad range of reasons why someone might not get vaccinated,” Trudeau said, “and I’m worried about creating knock-on, undesirable effects in our community.”
