Manitoba justice minister calls on Trudeau to 'lower the temperature' on border protests against restrictions

Manitoba Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen is calling on the federal government to "do what it can to lower the temperature" with anti-restrictions protesters blocking border crossings across the country.

At a news conference Thursday, Goertzen also urged all Manitobans to consider points of view that differ from their own.

"[We] can't have any more of the divisiveness when it comes to some of the rhetoric. We have to bring that down and ensure that we're listening to people," Goertzen said, adding that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has to take the lead in doing so.

"I think that'll get us to a better place in terms of how we respond to each other, and that starts with the federal government and Mr. Trudeau stepping back and ... looking for a reasonable path forward for all of us through this time and ensure those borders remain open."

He also called on all Manitobans "to step back [and] think about the reasons that other people feel differently than you do."

"[I'm] not necessarily asking you to change your mind," he said.

The minister spoke at the Manitoba Legislative Building, where protesters honking horns and calling for an end to vaccine mandates and other pandemic restrictions have now been been stationed for six days.

Another group of anti-restrictions protesters in semi-trailer trucks and other vehicles started blocking all highway lanes at Manitoba's main Canada-U.S. border crossing on Thursday.

That international border is a federal responsibility, so it's up to the federal government to deal with the protesters, Goertzen said.

While protesters have said they want an end to all Manitoba's provincial-level COVID-19 rules, Goertzen said the province so far has no plan to take any action — and that it's up to police to deal with them.

"We've offered what assistance we can in terms of resources, recognizing that operationally this is a police matter," he said.

"I'm sure that there are people today who would say, 'Well, you should direct the police.' And that might feel good today, depending on which side of this debate that you're on.

"But in the long run, having politicians direct police operations is not the right place to be in a democratic society."

He said he's found some of Trudeau's recent comments about unvaccinated Canadians "unnecessarily divisive" and called on the prime minister to reconsider those types of remarks.