'Absolute disgrace:' Ottawa mayor blasts Conservative MPs for visiting 'Freedom Convoy' protesters
Ottawa mayor Jim Watson is calling on a Conservative MP to apologize for a supportive visit to the ‘Freedom Convoy’ protesters that have been occupying downtown Ottawa since Friday.
Conservative MP Kevin Waugh tweeted that he and some of the party’s Saskatchewan caucus members wanted to show their appreciation for the truckers.
“It’s great to see Canadians championing freedom on Parliament Hill,” he tweeted Wednesday night, along with two photos. Sen. Denise Batters and former Conservative leader Andrew Scheer were among the visitors in one of the pictures.
The tweet was met with a chorus of criticism from local residents. Mayor Jim Watson called it a “disgrace.”
“This is an absolute disgrace that you would come out and praise this illegal action that has caused stress and hardship to residents who have been putting up with horns blasting throughout the night and residents harassed for wearing a mask & businesses forced to close.” Watson tweeted “Apologize.”
The protest began last Friday and is causing gridlock throughout downtown, with businesses forced to remain closed and residents dealing with noise and blocked streets.
Watson told CTV News he was "outraged" when he saw the photo Wednesday night.
"They understand what our city is going through; the chaos, the turmoil, the stress," he told CTV News at Noon. "To go out there and do selfies in front of the convoy, is salt in the wound."
Watson reserved particular criticism for Scheer.
"He's a former leader of the Conservative Party, he grew up in Ottawa. He knows that Ottawa is not just a government town. It’s a town made up of wonderful communities, and these communities are under siege.
"To have these members of Parliament and one senator come and mug for the cameras is absolutely disgraceful."
CTV News has reached out to the Conservative Party and the MPs’ individual offices for comment. The other MPs in the photo were Warren Steinley, Fraser Tolmie and Rosemarie Falk.
A spokesperson for Falk responded with a statement saying, in part: "I reject the assertion that I, as a Member of Parliament, should not take the time to meet and listen to Saskatchewanians who have come all this way to be heard. The Mayor of Ottawa should instead call on the Prime Minister to step up and help bring a resolve to the ongoing protests."
Waugh's office declined an interview request and did not provide a statement. Batters's office declined an interview request.
The main group behind the protests has scheduled a news conference for early Thursday afternoon.
- with files from Hannah Berge, CTV News Ottawa
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.