J.P. Lewis is an associate professor of political science at the University of New Brunswick in Saint John. (Image submitted)
In the wake of the Ottawa protest and others across the country, a UNB Saint John political scientist said many were aware knew political anger was brewing in Canada, it was just a question of how it would manifest itself.
Associate Professor J.P. Lewis said it could be related to COVID-19, waves of populism in other countries and disinformation on social media.
Lewis is curious to see where the anger goes when public health rules are removed.
“I’m very curious if the anger is then explicitly directed at the prime minister, if it moves on to other major public policy challenges like climate change,” Lewis said.
When it comes to potential pushback against Conservative MPs who publicly supported the convoy, Lewis is not sure what will happen but, noted one poll showed 40 per cent of Canadians supported the message of the protest.
As for invoking the Emergencies Act, Lewis noted while he is not an expert in policing, he thinks most people were asking why the protest was still going on.
“I think now that downtown Ottawa has been cleared, the prime minister has pointed the trucks being parked at a farm 100 kilometres outside the city and that’s the justification. I think this is something the government definitely will need to keep defending because they set out a narrow scope. If they are going to keep to that, they need to make sure they are communicating with Canadians that this is a narrow measure,” Lewis said.
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