Following NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh's condemnation of Conservative MPs that met with James Topp, the Canadian Armed Forces Veteran has extended another invitation.."Mr. Singh, I would be happy to meet with you. Anytime between now, on my arrival on June the 30th, or after, by the way," Topp said in a Twitter video recorded while on his march towards Ottawa..Last week, Singh was asked by a reporter about the dozen Conservative MPs who accepted Topp's invitation to meet with him. Topp is nearing the end of a 4,395-km march from BC to Ottawa to protest against vaccine mandates and COVID restrictions..Singh said meeting with people he disagrees with is "something we should all do."."Hearing different viewpoints, opposing viewpoints, is a part of our democracy. And everyone should be open-minded enough to meet with someone that they don't agree with," he said..But Singh also said the Freedom Convoy had the goal of overthrowing Canada's democratically elected Parliament.."It's not something that public officials or elected officials should be supporting, so those are deep concerns," Singh said, adding that the convoy was "harmful and hurtful to people," in Ottawa..In the video posted to Twitter on Monday, Topp said he reached out to "every member of parliament, top to the bottom, across the board," to ask for a meeting..He said the Conservative MPs met with him because "their constituencies reached out and asked them to come see me when I arrived in Ottawa." Topp added that the MPs that met with him showed "displays of courage.".Several media outlets criticized the Conservative MPs for meeting with Topp and his team, claiming that they were Freedom Convoy organizers. Founding member with Veterans4Freedom Tom Marazzo, and former RCMP member Daniel Bulford helped to organize the protests..But while Topp was charged in May with two conduct infractions for speaking out against vaccine mandates while in uniform, he was not a Freedom Convoy organizer, and was not in Ottawa for the protests. "I'm a soldier. I'm a Canadian citizen. I am a taxpayer. I'm a voter," Topp said..Topp said he created the organization Canada Marches for the purpose of "securing a meeting with any member of parliament, regardless of what party they're from." ."I wish that [Singh] would honour his statement when he says that he's willing to sit down and speak to those people, even those that he disagrees with," Topp said.
