'Cannot look the other way': Transport minister on hateful symbols at trucker protests

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra says hateful images at the trucker convoy's rally against vaccine mandates and COVID-19 restrictions can't be ignored as Canadians reflect on the weekend that has brought thousands of protesters to Ottawa's capital.

In an interview on CTV’s Question Period airing Sunday, Alghabra insisted that while not all those at the rally expressed hateful or racist views, those who did – carrying the Confederate flag or holding signs with swastikas drawn on them, for example – must be condemned.

“Some of the images and the voices that we heard come out of that protest were alarming. Canadians saw for themselves. We had swastika flags, we had the Confederate flag, we had voices that called for the overthrow of the government. Canadians saw for themselves that some voices are really disturbing and unacceptable,” he said.

“I understand that there are some people who are sympathetic to the protests for other reasons but we cannot look the other way.”

The "freedom convoy" was initially formed to protest the federal government’s vaccine mandate on truckers crossing the U.S.-Canada border, implemented earlier this month. It has since snowballed into a movement for Canadians who are frustrated with public health restrictions and government overreach.