Newly elected interim Conservative Party Leader Candice Bergen advised senior Conservative MPs not to tell members of the trucker convoy to leave Ottawa and instead make the protests the prime minister鈥檚 problem, according to an internal email obtained by 麻豆影视.
In an email sent on Monday, the then deputy leader told her colleagues 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we should be asking them to go home.鈥�
鈥淚 understand the mood may shift soon. So we need to turn this into the PMs problem. What will he take the first step to working toward ending this?鈥�
麻豆影视 contacted Bergen's office for comment. In a statement issued on Friday, she said that 鈥淐anadians want and need a peaceful resolution,鈥� and called on Trudeau to work with the opposition to find a solution.
Bergen has been vocally supportive of the Freedom Convoy that has blockaded downtown Ottawa for almost a week, in protest of vaccine mandates and other public health restrictions.
The leadership of the convoy says they won鈥檛 leave until the government lifts policies they say impede personal freedoms.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Liberal MPs, as well as NDP and Bloc Quebecois MPs, have all called for the protesters to vacate.
The convoy has been a source of divisiveness for the Conservative Party, with some MPs coming out in support and others being hesitant to comment at all.
Bergen鈥檚 strategy, to make it the prime minister鈥檚 problem, was deployed in the House of Commons during question period on Thursday.
鈥淲here is the olive branch, because Canadians are looking for an olive branch鈥he government doesn't have to agree. They don't have to even like the protesters and the trucks that are parked outside but they need to provide a solution. So could they please tell Canadians what the solution is to get past this impasse?鈥� she asked.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland instead cited the need to speak out against racist and hate-fuelled symbols and the movements that tolerate them.
Images of protesters holding the Confederate flag and signs with drawn on swastika symbols have gained attention nationwide.
鈥淚'm afraid this is classic gaslighting, and it's very disappointing to see the deputy leader do that when we are in the middle of what's going on on the streets right now in Ottawa. There's nobody in this House that tolerates racism,鈥� Bergen said.
Former Conservative cabinet minister James Moore said it鈥檚 a 鈥渕istake鈥� for the Conservatives to .
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 fine to side with people who have anxiety about, you know, closing down the border issues and some of the pragmatic issues of vaccine mandates. That鈥檚 an entirely separate conversation from what鈥檚 happening now,鈥� he said during an interview on 麻豆影视 Channel鈥檚 Power Play.
During an interview with 麻豆影视 Channel Thursday evening, Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson called on Bergen to apologize, saying political points should not be made on the backs of the people of Ottawa.
"If that's true, that's really a disgraceful performance by the new leader of the Conservative party," Watson told 麻豆影视 Channel Thursday evening.
"To make political points on the backs of the people in our city who have suffered for almost a week now is absolutely disgraceful."
"My hope is that, if it is true and it emanated from her office, that she apologize. People who are suffering the most should not be a political football tossed around."
