Protesters delay Trudeau’s planned appearance in Cambridge

Liberal Party Leader Justin Trudeau kicked off the third week of the 44th federal election with an announcement in Cambridge on Sunday.

The announcement, scheduled to take place 11:15 a.m. at 561 Hespeler Road, began with a delay — as a crowd of protestors gathered at the site to voice their displeasure with the party leader and his policies. The protesters were heard heckling and booing Trudeau while referring to him as a “dictator” and chanting “get out of Canada”.

Demonstrators could also be seen flying an inverted Canadian flag, while also expressing their ire toward on-site media – accusing reporters of being “fake news”. Those attendees also directed their anger toward police, with one protester calling officers monitoring the scene “jack-booted thugs.”

The campaign stop in Cambridge is the first for Trudeau since cancelling a planned evening appearance in Bolton, northwest of Toronto on Friday. That event was cancelled by the Liberal campaign because of safety concerns. Trudeau noted he'd never seen such anger and intensity on the campaign trail.

At that event, dozens of protesters followed the Liberal campaign to the rally, shouting expletives and making references to the Nazi regime over megaphones.

Trudeau's announcement on Sunday came with a focus on the environment.

He mentioned that the Liberal party wants to invest $2-billion in a Futures Fund that would benefit Alberta, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador. They also have a goal to reduce pollution by reaching a zero-net electricity grid by 2023. Another goal is to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

During the announcement, Trudeau was surrounded by loud booing sounds from protesters and ringing from nearby sirens that persisted throughout the event.

With files from James Sebastian-Scott.

More to come.

MORE: Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s event in Cambridge today has been interrupted by protesters. Here’s more video of the interaction between them and police. One protester saying “you want to talk to Canadians, we’re here!” @570NEWS pic.twitter.com/wUfwgeehlj

— James Scott (@JamesScottRadio) August 29, 2021