Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he didn't regret his comment alleging that certain Canadians are conspiracy theorists that wear tinfoil hats.."When someone believes that your government is trying to inject a vaccine in you to control your mind and track you, and there's a microchip in it, that's almost the definition of a government conspiracy theory that you wear a tinfoil hat to protect your brain from brainwaves," the prime minister said during his year-end interview with CTV News. ."It's a frame that when people fall into conspiracy theories, we need to call them out on that," he said..The prime minister was referring to comments he made on Jan. 31, 2021, when responding to a reporter's question on why he wouldn't meet with Freedom Convoy organizers, despite meeting with Black Lives Matter organizers back in 2020..Trudeau responded that he would not choose to "go anywhere near protests that have expressed hateful rhetoric, violence towards fellow citizens, and a disrespect — not just of science — but of the frontline health workers and, quite frankly, the 90% of truckers who have been doing the right thing to keep Canadians safe to put food on our tables.".Trudeau added that the concerns being expressed by the protestors were not new or surprising, but were a "continuation of what we’ve unfortunately seen in disinformation and misinformation, online conspiracy theorists, about microchips, about God knows what else that go with tinfoil hats.".CTV News' Chief News Anchor and Senior Editor Omar Sachedina asked Trudeau if he felt he could have done anything to bring down the temperature during the protest. "I don't, and I won't apologize for calling out people who were harming their fellow Canadians," Trudeau responded..The prime minister said there were many cases of families sitting at the bedside of loved ones dying from COVID-19, who would say something to the effect of, "oh my God, I wish you'd just taken the vaccine, I wish you hadn't listened to all those YouTube channels."."Like this is real. There were real tragedies and there were people trying to gin that up and to expand the divisions, and the fear, and sense of conspiracy that were out there," Trudeau said..During the interview, Trudeau also acknowledged the vitriol some Canadians have shown toward him in the last few years. But the prime minister said he doesn't take it personally, and it drives him to try and reassure those Canadians that the country's institutions are there for them.."So yes, some people are mad and lashing out. For me, every time I hear someone say that, my reflection is 'okay, how can I reassure you that Canadians will continue to be there for you?' That we're going to build a better future," Trudeau said. "There's reasons to be positive and optimistic about the country and about the future, because that's who Canadians are."
