The Conservative party has denied any links to the protesters who harassed Jagmeet Singh and others outside Parliament House this week after Liberal ministers accused the Conservatives of supporting them.
A video circulated online on Tuesday showed two men following the NDP leader, with one of them calling him a “corrupt bastard.”
Singh turned around to confront the two men and asked who had hurled the insults.
After they denied making the remarks and appeared to back down, Singh called one of them a “coward” for not saying it to his face.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller and Employment Minister Randy Boissonneau on Wednesday praised Singh for defending himself and condemned the harassment allegedly perpetrated by protesters.
“I’m proud of Jagmeet for standing up to this guy, but he shouldn’t have gone that far. Congress is rife with idiots with their own agendas,” Miller said.
The immigration minister also accused Conservative party leader Pierre Poirievre of “playing feet” with protesters, and called for him to “reject” the harassment by “those who support him”.
Miller and Boissonneau also criticised Conservative MP Michael Cooper after the Press Progress newspaper reported that he had been hanging out with the same group of protesters outside Parliament House this week.
Immigration Minister Marc Miller said he was “proud” of NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh for standing up to protesters after being heckled at Parliament House. Employment Minister Randy Boissonneau said NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh handled it “very well” and “was right in defending himself.”
In a statement, Cooper denied having any involvement with the protesters and said they had accosted him while he was having dinner.
“I went to dinner at a restaurant in Ottawa and a group of people recognized me at the restaurant, came up to me and took a photo. I have no connection to these people and have never met them,” Cooper said.
Press Progress Report shared photos and videos posted to social media, including from former “Freedom Convoy” protester Chris Dacey.
“We would like to thank Michael Cooper, Conservative Member for St. Albert-Edmonton, Alberta, for taking the time to speak to concerned Canadians this evening,” the post read.
On Monday, the first day of the fall session, a group of protesters gathered in Ottawa, harassing politicians, staff and journalists entering and leaving the House of Commons.
Protesters shouted insults and obscenities and incited violence, such as “Hang the traitors.”
Security has been stepped up at the Capitol since Tuesday, with access to areas near entrances restricted to those without proper passes.
NDP MP Charlie Angus, Liberal MP Pam Damoff and NDP MP Alexandre Bouleris responded to a video posted online that showed protesters heckling NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh at Parliament Hill.
Singh posted about the incident on X on Tuesday, in which he also blamed Poirievre.
“In recent days, bullies in Ottawa have been spewing hate and harassing Canadians who don’t agree with them. Indigenous women have been called Nazis. Staff have been harassed. Journalists have been yelled at,” Singh wrote.
“That’s the country Pierre Poirièvre wants. Me? I believe that everyone should be able to walk the streets in peace.”
The Conservative leader’s wife, Anaïda Poirievre, responded on X, noting that people are angry about policies implemented by the NDP-backed Liberal government.
“I’m sorry that you felt harassed today. Of course, that shouldn’t happen,” she said.
“My husband has not been in charge for the past eight years…Mr Singh, the only person to be blamed for the state of our country and the mood and despair of our people is the man who is currently in charge and those who have put him in charge.”
