Image Credit: House of Commons

By James Peters

Trucker Protest

MP Caputo condemns demonstrators who danced on Tomb of the Unknown Soldier

Jan 31, 2022 | 1:57 PM

OTTAWA — Kamloops-Thompson-Cariboo MP Frank Caputo elicited applause from both sides of the aisle with an impassioned speech in the House of Commons Monday (Jan. 31).

The House resumed sitting Monday after the end of its annual winter break.

Over the weekend, a large group protested on the foot of Parliament Hill, calling for an end to COVID-19 vaccination mandates, especially as they apply to truck drivers. While the protest was largely peaceful, some demonstrators were filmed dancing atop the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the nearby National War Memorial.

Caputo’s brief speech Monday condemned those actions.

Full text of the speech is printed here:

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“Mr. Speaker, I watched with horror on Saturday when a very few protestors disrespected and desecrated the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. I condemn these actions unequivocally.

“The people who did this missed a clear point — the Unknown Soldier and all of those who served for this country served so we could have the very freedoms we enjoy today, like the right to peaceful assembly and the right to free speech. This is why the use of Nazi and other racialized symbolism is so repugnant. Our soldiers fought against those things, both literally and metaphorically, so that we as Canadians could be free. That freedom was abused by the actions of a few.

“I visited the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier this morning — not just to remember, not just to say thank-you, but to beg for forgiveness for any time that we, as Canadians, have forgotten that freedom wasn’t free.

“For those who laid flowers at the tomb and at the Terry Fox statue, thank-you. For those who desecrated sacred places this weekend, shame on you.”