Madu thanks 'freedom convoys' for mobilizing against Ottawa's 'tyrannical' pandemic policies
CBC
Alberta's minister of labour and immigration has taken to social media to criticize Ottawa's "tyrannical" pandemic travel restrictions and thank "freedom convoys" for their efforts against them.
In a tweet responding to news about the federal government potentially ending COVID-19 border requirements, Kaycee Madu said the measure was "never was about science but about political control and power."
"Thanks to all those citizens, freedom convoys, who had the courage to mobilize against these tyrannical policies," read the remark on Madu's Twitter account on Tuesday.
"They endured a lot hate, name calling, suffered and vilified on behalf of all of us. I thank them!" continued the tweet from the former solicitor general and minister of justice.
The comment came after it was reported Tuesday the federal government is leaning toward dropping the vaccine requirement for people entering Canada — ending random COVID-19 testing at airports — and making the use of the ArriveCan app optional by the end of this month.
Such travel restrictions were among the pandemic measures that ignited large protests earlier this year, including those that jammed streets in Ottawa for several weeks and blocked international borders, like at Coutts, Alta.
Four men were charged with conspiring to murder RCMP officers following arrests at Coutts in February.
Alberta protestors also opposed a number of COVID-19 rules introduced in the province, including mask mandates, vaccine requirements, gathering limits and business restrictions. All have since been lifted.
Madu had previously voiced support for at least some of those public health measures.
In May of 2021, Madu posted in the comment section of another user's Facebook page that his government needed to impose stricter public health measures or run the risk of leaving Albertans "in field and makeshift hospitals, gasping for breath because we have [run] out of ventilators, manpower etc."
On Wednesday, asked about Madu's remarks, Premier Jason Kenney said he doesn't monitor Twitter and suggested that if reporters want to hear the minister's "views or clarification from him," they should talk to him.
CBC News called Madu's press office for further comment.
Kenney said his government was consistently opposed to "unnecessary" federal travel restrictions, specifically the ones implemented in December of last year and are still in place.
However, he stood by the decisions made by his own government.
In the four years Chelsey Simmonds has worked at the Eva Rothwell Centre, she has seen the need increase every year at the centre’s community food pantry.
CBC is once again looking to make the holiday season kind in Windsor-Essex.
Acute Care Alberta has extended its contract for another year with a private surgical facility at the centre of probes into health procurement and contracting.
As food bank use continues to climb across the province, front-line workers in Thunder Bay, Ont., are working to improve both food security and education.
More ads could soon be coming to Toronto’s subway system.
The driver wanted in connection with a fatal hit and run on Highway 401 earlier this week has been identified, police say.
There are mixed feelings about the proposed Grays Bay road and port project, among people who live in nearby communities.
WARNING: This story details allegations of child abuse and includes graphic content.
Provincial police in Lambton County have charged a 23-year-old man with second degree murder following a death investigation that began this past Saturday.
The Newfoundland and Labrador government is forming a working group to tackle what it calls systemic issues in the justice system, but answers or solutions could still be months away.
A woman has pleaded guilty to dangerous driving causing death in a 2024 fatal hit and run in Truro, N.S., where the victim was dragged down the street, a case that went unsolved for more than six months.
A stream of people showing up to a brightly lit front porch, each holding up a bottle of wine, spirits, or beer.
Sona Lakhoyan Olivier has been excluded from Quebec’s Liberal caucus for the duration of an investigation led by the National Assembly’s ethics commissioner, the party announced Thursday.