Although many had come to watch Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Jane Goodall plant the 10 millionth tree as part of Greater Sudbury’s award-winning revitalization program, there were a handful of people on hand to protest the prime minister. Although they were dwarfed by hundreds of supporters ready for the historic tree planting, the 20 or so protesters parked next to the William Bell Gazebo in Bell Park, trying to disrupt the ceremony with chants, chants and placards. In addition to the common “F–k Trudeau” flags, protesters screamed accusations at the prime minister, calling the communist dictator, for example, “Blackface Hitler.” Protesters also had words for the media present, shouted profanities at reporters from local news outlets, and even followed some reporters to shout profanities at them. Several of those in attendance begged the protesters to show some decency, noting that there were children present, and asked them to stop using profanity. Others simply asked the protesters to “shut up.” A member of the prime minister’s security team spoke to the most vocal of the protesters and told him to keep it down, while renowned primary care physician Dr. Jane Goodall was speaking. While the protesters complied with this request for a short time, the silence lasted for just over a minute before they began chanting that they were “pawns for the World Economic Forum” and part of the “climate change brainwashing” through the her role. as an environmental activist. Although he was barely audible among the chants from the group, Trudeau responded to the protesters. “We live in the greatest country in the world,” he said, drowned out by the crowd afterward. “One of the tricks, though, to living in one of the world’s greatest democracies is not just sharing your views, but listening to others.” Goodall also tried to speak to the protesters, but was cut off several times by the protesters’ voices. “If you don’t have hope, if you don’t feel that your actions will make a difference, like these people who are shouting here,” he told the protesters. “You shout because you hope that something…” But he didn’t finish before a protester shouted: “Goodall is a communist!” “Right, so…” Goodall said dismissively, drawing laughter from the audience. Goodall then took note of the few Every Child Matters flags in the crowd, before cutting them down again.
“I can see out there ‘Every Child Matters,’” she said. “Every child and every person matters, every choice matters and…” but again, she couldn’t finish before being interrupted. However, Goodall responded once again.
“I agree with you, so if you could be quiet for a while?” And although the protesters were loud and occasionally drowned out the speakers, they themselves were drowned out by the applause of the hundreds who came to watch the event. Below you can watch a video from today’s event.