OTTAWA — MP Marcus Powlowski returned to Parliament Hill on Monday for the first time since protesters from across the country jammed the centre of the capital with trucks to vent their anger over COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
"It feels a bit like a war zone," the Liberal member for Thunder Bay-Rainy River said.
Powlowski's taxi could only take him within several blocks of Parliament, so he had to walk the rest of the way.
"All the roads are blockaded off, mostly with truckers, sometimes by police cars," he said. "The place has kind of gone to hell the last couple of weeks. It seems to be run by a mob of not particularly nice people."
Powlowski said he's heard of people wearing masks getting stopped by aggressive protesters who try to intimidate them.
He said he feels sorry for the people of Ottawa and the police for having to put up with this.
In an interview, the Liberal MP was asked about Prime Minister Trudeau's refusal to meet with the protesters.
"It's not like the Prime Minister hasn't spoken to people who are opposed to vaccine mandates. We all have in our everyday life... He, probably a lot more than me, has spoken to more people who disagree with his opinion. I'm not sure what the protesters are going to tell him that's new."
Powlowski said his response to critics who suggest 'Go talk to these people' is that the protesters wouldn't likely be willing to listen to anything, and that a meeting would quickly escalate to anger-fuelled shouting.
"It really has been a mob mentality. Perhaps you're dignifying them more than you ought to by recognizing them as being worth talking to."
He said the protesters are openly confrontational and verbally aggressive.
"It's not like they inspire dialogue. People have a right to protest, but it would seem what's happening here has gone beyond a protest."
Federal NDP leader Jagmeet Singh on Monday called for an emergency debate in the House of Commons, calling the demonstration a direct threat to Canadian democracy and alleging foreign interference.
Singh accused the government of showing no leadership on the issue.
But Powlowski believes a debate will accomplish little except to provide a showcase for politicians to get themselves on the news.
He currently plans to be in Ottawa for the duration of the week, but that could change, he said, because some MPs are uncomfortable being in the capital at this time.
"If that's the case and they need people to be here, I might stay for longer to take somebody else's spot. It's a hybrid Parliament, so we're supposed to be here half the time and not here half the time."
Powlowski said it's his job to be in the capital.
"People protest, and you have to deal with protesters. That's part of being an elected politician, and I'm not running away from it."
The MP said it's "pretty significant" that the protesters have undermined democracy by scaring some MPs away from Parliament.
"We're elected. No one elected them," he said.
