'This is dictatorship': Newmarket councillor speaks out in support of Ottawa protesters

Newmarket Councillor Grace Simon said she felt compelled to speak out in support of the convoy protesters, and against the federal government's emergency measures, after travelling to Ottawa last weekend. 

In a Facebook post that has since been deleted, she voiced support for the protests opposing COVID-19 vaccination mandates and other restrictions, and criticized Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for not meeting with the protesters and mischaracterizing the protest. 

“Instead of agreeing to meet with leaders of this organization, he just chooses to push and push,” Simon wrote in a reply to a comment on her Facebook post. “This is not qualified and just leadership. This is dictatorship and ignoring the rights of peaceful protesting.”

In a written statement to NewmarketToday, Simon said, “I couldn’t believe the unity, peace and pleasure of Canadians being together for a common purpose. There were people of all ages, ethnic, religious and lifestyle backgrounds. All coming together for relief of feeling shut down and not heard. Why does the prime minister insist on force control over them?"

Simon said that she received "so many positive public and private messages, and phone calls" in the wake of the post.

“I am very concerned that people are afraid to speak out," the Ward 1 councillor wrote to NewmarketToday, adding that she does not mean “any disrespect to people who may not agree with me.”

“But this is still a free country, and we still need to be able to speak when compelled to speak. I am compelled.”

Protesters have occupied portions of Ottawa for several weeks. The federal government is now drawing on emergency measures to address protests and occupations that have flared up across the country. While the protests have disrupted businesses and trade in different parts of the country, concerns have also been raised about the presence of far-right extremists and hate groups using the demonstration to advance their ideological agendas.

But Simon said the prime minister is mischaracterizing the protests and that “the media is supporting his lies” in her deleted Feb. 15 post. She also questioned the use of the Emergencies Act and said there is a “#leadershipcrisis” at the federal level.

She said while municipal leaders are non-partisan, this is a call that should go beyond party lines.

When asked for comment by NewmarketToday, Mayor John Taylor said Simon is entitled to her opinion and he respects her freedom of speech.

"The councillor has her right to speak as an individual person, as an individual councillor, and express any opinions she chooses to as long as they don't violate the code of conduct," Taylor said. 

He has heard from a couple of residents concerned by Simon's comments, Taylor said, but he doesn't believe any rules have been broken.

Although he believes in the right to peaceful protest, he does not support occupations, and the demonstrations in Ottawa and at the border had become that, he said.

"If anything like that occurred in Newmarket, I would be doing everything in my power to put an end to it," he said. 

Newmarket-Aurora MP Tony Van Bynen also weighed in on the issue in a Feb. 15 statement posted to Twitter about voting against a Conservative motion to revoke COVID-19 mandates that was defeated. 

He said he has received many messages from constituents about the vote, but noted almost all mandates are provincial jurisdiction. He added border-based mandates are also in place on the U.S. side regardless.

“Decisions to lift mandates should be guided by epidemiologists, doctors, and professional medical researchers,” Van Bynen said in the statement. “No such advice has been given to the Government of Canada.”

He defended the use of the Emergencies Act, which could freeze financial accounts linked to the occupations, among other added powers to support police response.

“The specific measures provided via the Emergencies Act are limited, subjected to numerous checks and safeguards through Parliament, and must be compliant with the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms,” he said. 

— With files from Canadian Press