The leader of the People's Party of Canada, Maxime Bernier, was arrested on Friday for failing to respect the health protocol in force in the country.
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The politician who is currently visiting Manitoba, a province in the south of the country, went to an anti-containment rally in the village of Saint-Pierre-Jolys. Without a mask, he gave a speech during which he criticized the sanitary measures still in force before shaking hands with those present, reports Radio-Canada. He was then arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Information confirmed on his twitter account.
"Our leader Maxime Barnier was unjustly arrested this afternoon by the RCMP in Saint-Pierre-Jolys, for having participated in rallies"
, we can read in the post published around 10 pm. A video shows him getting out of his car and then handcuffed by a police officer. When the latter asks him if he is armed, Maxime answers
"Only my words, my philosophy, what I believe in".
He then gets into a police car.
A first warning
In a previous tweet, posted two hours earlier, the PPC leader said he had been fined for attending an event in Niverville, also located in the province of Manitoba.
"The officer warned me that I could be arrested if I went to other gatherings,"
he said.
In addition to his participation in rallies, the politician admitted not having respected the mandatory quarantine on his arrival in Manitoba, specifies Radio-Canada.
Maxime Bernier is a candidate in the federal election which will be held by the end of the summer in Canada and is running for the riding of Beauce in the province of Quebec. On several occasions, he denounced the establishment of confinements and curfews in the context of the health crisis.
"Governments have closed our economy, caused bankruptcies, depressions and suicides, for a virus where we must protect only the most vulnerable"
, he declared on May 18 in Beauce media, a local newspaper. .
“I am not an anti-vaccine, but against compulsory vaccination. I encouraged my parents to get vaccinated. They were part of the vulnerable population
, ”he said, rejecting any accusation of conspiracy.