A Canadian legislator has taken umbrage with Elon Musk’s support for the Freedom Convoy movement — to the point of telling the Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) chief — who is a Canadian citizen — to “STFU.”
What Happened: According to the Calgary-based Western Standard, Shannon Phillips, a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta, became irritated with Musk’s tweets that supported the Freedom Convoy’s protests against Canadian COVID policies and denigrated the federal government of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Musk responded to a tweet from Lincoln Network co-founder Aaron Ginn that showed drone footage of the significant turnout over the weekend by convoy participants in the Canadian capital of Ottawa.
Related: Elon Musk Doubles Down On Canada Criticism: It Seems 'Fringe Minority' Is Government
Musk offered a two-part comment, first noting “It would appear that the so-called ‘fringe minority’ is actually the government” — a reference to a Trudeau statement attempting to minimize the convoy’s impact — and then adding, “If the government had the mandate of the people, there would be a significant counter-protest. There is not, therefore they do not.”
Phillips, a member of the Alberta New Democratic Party, chimed into the thread by tweeting, “STFU Elon.”
Phillips then followed up by tweeting, “Srsly Elon time for less bulls**t tweeting and more focus on putting a supercharger south of Calgary and fixing the model 3s so people don’t freeze to death. You’ve got enough to do without filling the world with your stupid political takes.”
Why It Matters: The South African-born Musk immigrated to Canada in 1989. His mother was Canadian-born, which made it easier for him to obtain citizenship. He left the country in 1992 and became a U.S. citizen in 2002, although he still holds his Canadian citizenship.
The convoy sought to end the Canadian government’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate that would unvaccinated Canadian truckers to quarantine at home after returning from across the U.S. border. Truckers protesting the mandate brought their vehicles to Ottawa on Jan. 29 and were joined by supporters, resulting in significant congestion in sections of the capital.
Trudeau has condemned the Freedom Convoy as "an insult to memory and truth" and media coverage of the protests has highlighted property desecration and the presence of a few protestors sporting Nazi flags. Protest organizers have stated the demonstrations were overwhelmingly peaceful and accused the media of bias in covering the event. A GoFundMe page in support of the convoy’s truckers has raised $7.5 million.
Photo: Steve Jurveston / Flickr Creative Commons
