Liberal MP breaks ranks, calls out Trudeau's 'easy and absurd' smearing of freedom protesters

Liberal MP Joel Lightbound spoke out on Tuesday, calling for his party to give a "roadmap" to get Canada out of COVID restrictions.

Lightbound said that it was time to review vaccine mandates and vaccine passports, as well as travel bans, adding also that it was time for the trucker convoy to move out from the city of Ottawa's downtown core, and perhaps protest elsewhere.

Speaking of the protestors, Lightbound said that he condemned all displays of hate that have occurred during the protest, but has since seen a diverse array of people, including blacks and Sikhs. Lightbound said that he would avoid using "easy and absurd labels" to generalize the group.

"It's time we stopped dividing people, pitting people against each other. The tone and policies of my government have changed since [the election], now the approach stigmatizes and divides people."

Lightbound added that he is not the only person uncomfortable with the Trudeau Liberals' handling of the situation, and even went so far as to say that his government was using health mandates and restrictions to "wedge and stigmatize" those who were not submitting to mandates.

Lightbound said he was "ready to accept the consequences," if any, that will come from speaking out against the party line.

"We need to reevaluate all the measures. That's essentially my whole point I think we need to have a clear roadmap for when restrictions will be lifted, and this roadmap must take into account what we've seen with the World Health Organization's recommendation, what other countries are doing, it's essential for Canadians to have that understanding of where we're heading and under what conditions and circumstances measures will be lifted," he said.

"What a lot of the anxiety and frustration in the population lies with the fact that some people... are afraid that certain measures are being normalized and that these measures shouldn't be normalized, that they should be extraordinary and limited in time.

"I think that would go a long way in alleviating some of the frustration, and some of the division in our society and some of the polarization. That's essential going forward.

"I'm not advocating for lifting, necessarily, all measures right now. I'm not a public health expert. Im just saying that the government... needs to provide a road map going forward."