Trudeau: Ottawa residents need their ‘lives back,’ won’t commit to negotiate with truckers

As the trucker convoy continues to occupy downtown streets, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau won't say whether he's willing to negotiate with the group.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says the people living in Ottawa deserve to get their lives back, as the so-called “freedom convoy” continues to occupy downtown streets — but he won’t say whether he’s willing to negotiate with the group leading the demonstration.

Trudeau made the comment during a Thursday press conference, as questions arise about what’s next for the protest.

“This is protesting people going about their daily lives, harassing people who dare wear masks or follow public health rules. Expressing hateful approaches, showing hateful symbols of genocide, of racism. These are things that are absolutely unacceptable,” Trudeau said.

The protest initially sprung up in response to a federal rule that all Canadian truckers seeking to cross the border from the United States would need to be vaccinated in order to avoid a 14-day quarantine. That mandate went into effect on Jan. 15 — and the United States’ own vaccine mandate for truckers was imposed a week later.

When pressed on whether he planned to negotiate with these protesters, Trudeau wouldn’t provide a definitive answer — but he did say the idea of bringing in “an alternative government,” which the group Canada Unity suggested in a petition with hundreds of thousands of signatures, is a “nonstarter.”

“The commitment that we made as a government, if we got re-elected, is we would stand by science,” he added.

Meanwhile, as the protesters continue to blockade downtown city streets, Ottawa police Chief Peter Sloly said Wednesday in a briefing with city council that the prospect of asking for support from the military is not off the table.

“We’re looking at every single option, including military aid to civil power. I’ve had those discussions with mayor, council members, the board. There is a process extremely well established, extremely well covered, and extremely rare,” he said.