By Danielle Wallace
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was lambasted this weekend by a member of European Parliament for cracking down on anti-vaccine mandate protesters in the capital of Ottawa.
“The prime minister of Canada, the way he’s behaving right now – he’s exactly like a tyrant, like a dictator. He’s like Ceaușescu in Romania,” MEP Cristian Terheș, of Romania, said during a speech to European Parliament in Brussels. “If you raise doubts about the vaccines, you’re outcasted. What’s the difference between what he does and what happened under The Inquisition?”
Ceaușescu was a Romanian communist politician and dictator until the late 1980s.
“On one side they say well we should not believe in God,” Terhes continued, making a comparison to the 12th century Catholic Church’s effort to root out heresy in Europe and the Americas. “But on the other they say believe in science,” he said of modern governments. “We don’t have to. Science is not about belief. Science is about measurements, conclusions, hypothesis and arguments.”
Terhes said he is offering support to truckers peacefully participating in the Freedom Convoy in Canada.
Romanian MEP @CristianTerhes absolutely mops the floor with PM @JustinTrudeau in Brussels this week over how he's handling the Ottawa #FreedomConvoy2022 protests.
"He's exactly like a tyrant, a dictator. He's like Ceaușescu in Romania," said Terhes. pic.twitter.com/Ox87jL3XJr
— Cosmin Dzsurdzsa 🇷🇴 (@cosminDZS) February 20, 2022
“I hope this movement for freedom and for rights is spreading all around the world,” he said. “Because at the end of the day, we have to make sure that those elected officials understand that they were elected into those offices for the people. Not to behave like masters of slaves.”
Trudeau has invoked the Emergencies Act for the first time in Canada’s history to try to put an end to the blockade. Ottawa police said Sunday so far 191 arrests have been made in connection to the protest. Of those arrested, 103 were charged, and the main charges were mischief and obstruction. Of the remaining, 89 have been released on conditions which “include a boundary they are not allowed to attend,” and the others were released unconditionally. So far, 57 vehicles have been towed.
Police promised they’ll be working to identify anyone who participated in the protest and will pursue financial sanctions and criminal charges. Several days ago, police warned individuals in the protest zone that their personal or business bank accounts, including virtual currency, may be subject to examination and restriction. This comes as the Christian crowdfunding platform GiveSendGo had collected more than $9.7 million on behalf of Freedom Convoy organizers as of Sunday afternoon. GoFundMe froze the group’s campaign weeks ago at $10 million at the request of Ottawa police.
GiveSendGo’s founder, Jacob Wells, previously told Fox News Digital that the peaceful demonstrations in Ottawa should remind people that individuals’ freedoms are derived from God – not the government – and governments should be protecting those freedoms, not infringing upon them.
Looks like someone has hit the nail on the head this time
Well, he invoked liberties and rights-suspending actions without Parliament. That’s pretty much dictatorial.