Matt Duchene speaks out regarding Freedom Convoy protests

Duchene, a native of Haliburton, Ontario, voiced his support for the protests, but made his disappointment clear when it came to the flat out disrespect that has been shown to Canadian monuments and memorials by some protesters.

The Canadian War Memorial was erected to honour Canadian soldiers who gave their lives serving in the armed forces, several protesters urinated on it. The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, the final resting place of an unidentified Canadian soldier who lost his life in France during WWI, was used as a stage and danced on.

Then there was the statue of Terry Fox, a 22 year old Canadian cancer patient who attempted to run across Canada in an effort to raise money for cancer research and inspired millions. The statue was adorned with a «mandate freedom» sign and an upside down Canadian flag, a symbol of a nation in peril.

Duchene voiced his condemnation of these incidents imploring protesters to «have some respect for our national heroes and the monuments that commemorate them»

Images and videos from the protest have sparked outrage from the public, several protesters were also photographed carrying Nazi and Confederate battle flags. Staff at a soup kitchen were harassed into giving out free food, and one Ottawa resident had their front porch defecated on. Supporters of the protest insist that these are the actions of a few «bad actors» but as the number of these incidents grow, that sentiment becomes harder and harder to believe. How many of these isolated incidents do we need to see before it's considered a pattern?

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