Though many had come to see Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Jane Goodall plant the 10 millionth tree as part of Greater Sudbury’s award-winning regreening program, there were a handful of people on hand to protest the prime minister.
Although they were dwarfed by hundreds of supporters on hand for the historic tree-planting, the 20 or so protesters parked themselves next to the William Bell Gazebo in Bell Park, attempting to disrupt the ceremony with chants, yelling and placards.
Besides the what-have-become-common ‘F–k Trudeau’ flags, protesters screamed accusations at the prime minister, calling him a communist dictator, for example, and “Blackface Hitler.”
Protesters also had words for the media present, yelling profanities at reporters from local news outlets and even following some journalists to yell obscenities at them.
Several of the attendees pleaded with the protesters to show some decorum, noting there were children present and asking them to stop using vulgarities. Others simply demanded protesters “shut up.”
One member of the prime minister’s security team spoke to the most vocal of the protesters and told him to please keep it down while renowned primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall spoke. While protesters abided by this request for a short time, the silence lasted a little over a minute before they began chanting that she was a “pawn for the World Economic Forum” and that she was part of the “climate change brainwashing” through her role as an environmental activist.
Though he could scarcely be heard amongst the yelling from the group, Trudeau did respond to the protesters.
“We live in the greatest country in the world,” he said, drowned out by the crowd thereafter. “One of the tricks, though, to living in one of the great democracies of the world, is it’s not just about sharing your views, it’s about listening to others.”
Goodall also tried to speak to the protesters, but she was cut off on several occasions by shouts from the protesters.
“If you don’t have hope, if you don’t feel that your actions will make a difference, like these people who have been calling out here,” she said to the protesters. “You’re calling out because you hope that something…”
But she was unable to finish before one protester shouted, “Goodall’s a communist!”
“Right, so…” Goodall said dismissively, to laughter from the audience.
Then Goodall noted the few Every Child Matters flags that were in the crowd, before again being cut off.
“I can see out there ‘Every Child Matters’,'' she said. “Every child and every individual matters, every choice matters, and…” but again, she was unable to finish before she was interrupted. However, Goodall responded once more.
“I’m agreeing with you, so if you could just keep quiet for a little while?”
And though the protesters were loud, and occasionally drowned out the speakers, they were themselves drowned out by applause from the hundreds that came to witness the event.
You can watch a video of today's event below.
