Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says those who chose not to receive COVID-19 vaccines must accept the consequences of their decisions, including lost employment and restricted access to travel and other services.."It was their choice and nobody ever was going to force anyone into doing something they don't want to do," the prime minister said in an interview with CBC Radio's The House, which will air on Saturday.."But there are consequences when you don't. You cannot choose to put at risk your co-workers. You cannot choose to put at risk the people sitting beside you on an airplane.".Trudeau made the comments right before he was scheduled to fly to Rwanda for a meeting with Commonwealth leaders. The Liberal government only recently lifted the restrictions on unvaccinated Canadians using planes or trains..When asked about comments he made preceding the Freedom Convoy's arrival in Ottawa, where he called them a "fringe minority" with "unacceptable views," Trudeau said he didn't regret it.."I will always call out unacceptable rhetoric and hateful language wherever I see it," Trudeau said, adding that his comments were never intended for the vaccine hesitant, but for those he believed were deliberately trying to spread misinformation and disinformation.."Unfortunately, with our modern social media and communications world, that was picked up and conflated and extended on," Trudeau said. "And I'm not going to start to say I was taken out of context, but my point was that there are people who are deliberately trying to stir up hate and intolerance and misinformation.".Trudeau said there is a continued need to "call out those folks," while at the same time engaging in thoughtful, reasonable dialogue in order to alleviate their concerns..When asked about his government's invoking of the Emergencies Act, Trudeau argued that the act did nothing to block free speech or peaceful assembly. He said the line was drawn when it became clear that the Freedom Convoy was an illegal occupation..He compared his decision to end the protests, and the language he used to condemn those advocating illegal actions, to criticism of his decision that every Liberal candidate must endorse a woman's right to choose.."Well, I got accused of being divisive on that because people who believe deeply in being anti-abortion were therefore excluded from my perspective on this," he said..He said anytime a leader takes a strong position, "there are going to be people who feel that you are strongly against them."."And what you have to do every step of the time as a leader is figure out whether or not it is worth the division to stand up on something that you know is right, and whether it's women's rights or the freedom of people to be protected during a pandemic."
