The protest convoy carries a combustible load. Politicians can exploit it — or confront it

With a convoy of protesters gathering in the nation's capital, Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole addressed reporters Thursday evening and called on everyone — protesters and others — to "take the temperature down."

That's not a bad notion. A calm discussion about the vaccine mandate for cross-border truck drivers — its purpose, its consequences and the merits of the alternatives — might be useful right now, especially after a long and painful two pandemic years.

But it doesn't necessarily follow that compromise or unanimity is possible here. And if the temperature needs lowering, it's all the more unfortunate that the words and actions of some Conservative MPs have contributed to raising it.

Pierre Poilievre, an increasingly prominent voice in the party, has referred to the mandate as a "vaccine vendetta." His phrasing implies that the Liberals were somehow driven by personal animus toward truckers when they decided that they must be vaccinated to cross back into Canada without quarantining. (It also ignores the fact that the U.S. has adopted the very same policy for truckers who want to drive into the United States.)

Conservative MP Leslyn Lewis said federal mandates — which also cover public servants, air and train travellers — are "unscientific, vindictive, mean-spirited and promote segregation." Former Conservative leader Andrew Scheer tweeted this week that Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is "the biggest threat to freedom in Canada."

And that's all in addition to Conservative claims that the mandate is leading to empty grocery store shelves.

Asked by a reporter Thursday to reconcile his call for calm with the rhetoric coming from his own caucus, O'Toole said "we all have to play a role to take the temperature down." He then proceeded to claim the prime minister is wielding mandates to divide Canadians.

WATCH: O'Toole calls for peace as protest convoy heads for Ottawa

Almost immediately after O'Toole's news conference ended, a video was posted to his Twitter account with a message accusing "Trudeau and his Liberal allies" of wanting "to smear and demonize" truckers.

This would hardly be the first time a politician's rhetoric has been more inflammatory than absolutely necessary. But even if this is just the way partisans talk sometimes, that wouldn't be an explanation or a justification for the current tone. It would be an excuse.

O'Toole said on Thursday that this week's demonstration is "a symbol of the fatigue and the division that we're seeing in this country." The exact nature and motivation of this protest is at least debatable. In some ways, O'Toole might be right. But even then, it would be necessary to decide which parts of this protest can or should be bargained with.

Beyond the "F--k Trudeau" flags and the reports of journalists being harassed, convoy organizers are promoting a "memorandum of understanding" calling on the Senate and the Governor General, in collaboration with a committee of citizens, to issue edicts to federal, provincial and municipal governments to repeal all vaccine-related restrictions. If the Senate and governor general decline to go along with that plan, the memo says, they're expected to resign.

In an interview earlier this week, one organizer called Trudeau a "criminal" and said the goal of the convoy is to "compel the government to dissolve government." Organizers reportedly plan to stay in Ottawa until all pandemic restrictions are lifted.

At the risk of stating the obvious, calls to overthrow Canada's democratic order are not something that can be entertained or humoured, no matter how tired some people are.