By Pepper Parr
April 26th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
OPINION
We were advised that the group disrupting the Chretien visit to the Gould office at Burlington Centre was not people from the Emily Brown campaign
Our politics have gotten very ugly.
When a group demonstrated outside the Burlington Centre where Karian Gould was hosting for Prime Minister Jean Chretien, who was there to support her campaign, things got noisy.
Foul language, flag with equally foul language and the use of a bullhorn made it noisy.
Demonstrating is a noble thing to do – opposing something you disagree with is not only acceptable, but necessary in a democracy.
Who made the decision to gather the supporters and have them make fools of themselves? Emily Brown is the Conservative candidate seeking to replace Karina Gould as the Member of Parliament for Burlington.
I’ve talked to Emily more than half a dozen times. I thought she had the potential to become a member of Parliament who would serve the interests of the city. I didn’t see her as the kind of person who would approve of the kind of demonstration seen on Friday.
Who organized the demonstration? Was it the Conservative candidate?
If Emily Brown did not organize or approve of the demonstration, should she have issued a statement regretting that it took place and making it clear that this is not the kind of thing she stands for?
We reached out to the Brown campaign asking for some clarification.
If the leadership or the potential political leadership does not stand up and demand respectful behaviour, we are indeed in serious trouble.
I can assure you that this had nothing to do with the Conservative candidate or anyone on her team. It shouldn’t be hard to prove as I’m sure that they have cameras at the Burlington Centre, where this “alleged” demonstration took place. Emily Brown is a class act who has been working tirelessly around the clock, to try and meet as many Burlington residents as humanly possible. If you spent one day out on the campaign trail, you would easily see how an email could go unanswered for a day. This is just dirty politics. This is not the first questionable instance we have witnessed. We have had so many of our signs stolen or damaged and Emily was denied the opportunity to debate the other candidates, thanks to nefarious characters trying to disrupt the process. Hopefully next time you will better investigate before making false accusations.
Reader Observation:
Huh…really?
So why not make the opinion in red the headline?
David, many of us follow the Burlington Gazette since we live in a vibrant community of 200,000 people beyond the boundaries of Ottawa and Toronto, and are thus unknown to Canada’s mainstream media.
That must be a scoop for the Gazette, no one else is posting this, not even Karina Gould.
There was no protest. This story cannot be cross verified. Doubt there was any leaked or advanced information that Chretien was in town. Dirty tricks .
Editor’s note: There was a protest and it was witnessed by more than three people.
There was a disgusting protest! I witnessed it as I left Karina’s campaign office after meeting former PM Jean Chrétien Friday morning. Foul language over a bullhorn, Fxxx Carney flag, and misinformation being spread!!
It’s a shame that the Conservatives can’t/won’t condemn this sort of disgraceful behaviour. Even if the Emily Brown campaign was not part of this spectacle, their silence says that they condone this type of action. Shame on them!!!
Street waves are not a protest. The Conservative street wave late Friday afternoon did not coincide with Chretien morning visit to the campaign office. No mention of a morning protest was made by news outlet “Burlington Today” – they covered the Chretien visit. Pepper, check your staff sources , where it reads like both your opinion and staff reporting are anecdotal at best.
Emily has run a nasty campaign, and egged on the worst Burlington has to offer.
Notables at her campaign launch were Mario Zelaya, notable for being fact checked by AFP, spreading disinformation undermining confidence in our election, and Northern Perspective, a husband-wife fake news crew who’s lies would make Tucker Carlson blush.