Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was hit by gravel during a campaign stop, reports BBC. The incident occurred as Trudeau, the chief of the Liberal Party, was getting ready to board his campaign bus. Journalists accompanying the PM reported that a few of them have been additionally hit by small stones. There were no reports of any injury.
Canada will go to to polls after Trudeau called a snap election in mid-August, in the hope of gaining a majority government for his left-of-centre Liberal party. His campaign has been disrupted in the past as well. It was the first incident of violence on the campaign trail. Trudeau has faced protests at several stops due to anger over mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations that are part of the ruling party’s agenda ahead of the Canada elections. Last week, the prime minister was forced to cancel an election rally after a crowd of angry protesters ambushed the event. Speaking to journalists on his campaign plane after the incident in London, Ontario, Trudeau said he may have been hit on the shoulder and compared the incident to when a woman threw pumpkin seeds at him in 2016. Trudeau also faced similar noisy protests in Surrey in British Columbia, while a campaign event in the town of Bolton in Ontario was cancelled last month after a large number of protesters showed up. However, previous incidents have been restricted to only hurling abuses at the PM.
Earlier on Monday, Justin Trudeau said he will “not allow” such “anti-vaxxer mobs” to “dictate how this country gets through this pandemic”. The incident in Ontario’s London immediately drew criticism from Trudeau’s principal rival, Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole, who tweeted, “This is disgusting and I condemn these actions in the strongest terms possible. Political violence is never justified and our media must be free from intimidation, harassment and violence.”
