Watch: Actress Evangeline Lilly challenges Justin Trudeau to listen to Freedom Convoy members and not treat protesters as 'terrorists' in impassioned plea



Actress Evangeline Lilly delivered an impassioned plea for Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to sit down and listen to the members of the trucker protests in Ottawa instead of classifying them as terrorists.

Lilly began the video addressing Trudeau, "I want to speak to you today about your current approach and treatment of our fellow Canadians who are protesting your federal vaccine mandates."

The "Ant-Man" and "Lost" star asked Trudeau why he has refused to meet with leaders of the Freedom Convoy.

"If you are so convinced of your own reasons for the mandates, sit down and walk the leaders of a group of 2.3 million protesters across the country who represent many millions more across the nation and explain it to them," Lilly said in the video. "And ask them to listen with open hearts and minds and then reciprocate."

"Listen to what they have to say with a mind open to hearing things that might go against the ideas you are entrenched in," the Hollywood actress proposed. "Maybe there are solutions that could bring Canadians together right now that you have not considered."

"You unify people by finding solutions together," she stressed. "Not by vilifying those who say there is a better way. What we need right now from our leadership is unification and that requires being willing to see, recognize, and hear from the people sitting out in the cold at your door."

Lilly challenged Trudeau to "go outside and meet those protesters for yourself."

"That is what a true leader would do," the 42-year-old actress said in a dig at Trudeau. "They would go out and meet their constituents, look them in the eye and treat them with respect."

Lilly noted that despite what the Canadian government and corporate media has said, the Freedom Convoy has been overwhelmingly peaceful with "thousands of people singing, dancing, hugging, waiting, patiently speaking kindly, cleaning up the streets, and generally sharing the true Canadian spirit."

"You as a group have gone from ignoring these protesters to dismissing them as a fringe minority, to smearing them as racist and misogynistic, to now attacking them as terrorists," she continued.

"When you became prime minister of Canada, you did not just become the prime minister of the people who agreed with you," Lilly pointed out. "You became prime minister of every Canadian. You don't get to pick and choose who you will care about. It is your civic duty to care about all Canadians. Even those who you disagree with."

Lilly said treating the protesters against vaccine mandates with "prejudice, suspicion, and illegal repression is not care."

"Protesting something that deeply, deeply concerns you in our society is not terrorism, it is the civic duty of every Canadian," she declared, and added, "It is our job as the people to hold our leadership accountable. If they are infringing on our inalienable rights, if we suspect that they have become corrupted or compromised in any way, or simply if we think they're wrong in monumental decisions they are making on behalf of their people."

"But you are treating my brothers and sisters, your constituents like terrorists without ever speaking to their leadership," the movie star proclaimed.

"There are no riots. This is not a violent protest," the celebrity actress said. "There is only a mass of deeply concerned citizens at your doorstep who you refuse to acknowledge for what they are – your people."

Lilly then gave a message for people on both sides of the vaccine mandate debate.

"If you think that the person on the other side of this divide is your enemy, please take time to get to know them," she said in the stirring video. "Listen with an open heart to what they're really saying. And remember that we're all humans – who get scared and feel pain."

"Most of us are just trying our best to build the brightest future for the next generation," she continued. "And the happiest, most fulfilling, most peaceful, and healthy today."

Lilly slammed the legacy media, "Don't let the press brainwash you into division and hatred. The antidote to prejudice is knowledge."

She acknowledged that Google algorithms can make it "very hard to find good information on the other side," so she suggested, "Ask someone you know."

Lilly said, "Listening is the only way out of the ideological mess the media has broiled us all into."

"May cooler, wiser, more loving heads prevail right now. The future of our society depends upon it," the actress concluded.

Actress Evangeline Lilly shares a heartfelt plea - A MUST WATCH PLEASE SHARE ALL MUST HEAR THIS. www.youtube.com

In March of 2020, Lilly declared that she would not self-isolate during the COVID-19 pandemic because she valued her freedoms and believed the government could be attempting to encroach on her liberties.

"It's unnerving. ... Let's be vigilant right now. And kind. Watchful and gracious — keeping a close eye on our leaders, making sure they don't abuse this moment to steal away more freedoms and grab more power," she said at the start of the pandemic.

Last month, Lilly attended an anti-vaccine mandate in Washington D.C., where she called the mandates "not safe."

"I was in DC this weekend to support bodily sovereignty while Canadian truckers were rallying for their cross-country, peaceful convoy in support of the same thing," Lilly said in an Instagram video. "I believe nobody should ever be forced to inject their body with anything, against their will ... under any threat whatsoever."

Actress Evangeline Lilly stands in solidarity with anti-vaccine mandate protesters



Actress Evangeline Lilly, a pro-choice Democrat, spoke out against vaccine mandates Thursday in an Instagram post that stirred online controversy.

The "Ant-Man" and "Lost" star revealed that she attended a protest against vaccine mandates in Washington D.C. last weekend, calling the mandates "not safe."

"I was in DC this weekend to support bodily sovereignty while Canadian truckers were rallying for their cross-country, peaceful convoy in support of the same thing," Lilly announced, referencing the ongoing Freedom Convoy in Canada traveling from Vancouver to Ottawa in protest of the country's vaccine mandates.

She was one of thousands of people rallying in D.C. on Sunday. Crowds gathered on the National Mall chanted "no more mandates" and called on the government to end the mass firing of workers who refuse to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

A look around the Defeat the Mandates rally taking place at the Lincoln Memorial.pic.twitter.com/u8oMkD0iLD
— Alejandro Alvarez (@Alejandro Alvarez) 1642963995

"I believe nobody should ever be forced to inject their body with anything, against their will ... under any threat whatsoever," the 42-year-old actress wrote after the protest.

"This is not the way. This is not safe. This is not healthy. This is not love. I understand the world is in fear, but I don't believe that answering fear with force will fix our problems," she continued.

"I was pro-choice before COVID and I am still pro-choice today," she said.

The reaction to her post was unkind.

"This is pro ignorance. Ugh, this comes from a highly privileged white woman who think she's being woke when the reality is just that she hasn't read enough," one commenter wrote on her post.

"This goes beyond personal choice- it is about caring for others (especially those who are immune-compromised) during a pandemic. It is selfish to remain unvaccinated," another said.

Many people on social media interpreted Lilly's post as a stance against the COVID-19 vaccines, but that's not what she wrote. Lilly said she was against vaccine mandates, and the first picture in her post features a protester with a sign that reads, "Vaxxed Democrat for Medical Freedom."

This is not the first time the movie star has caused controversy with an Instagram post on COVID-19. In March 2020, Lilly wrote a post that she would not self-quarantine because she valued her freedom.

"Where we are right now feels a lot too close to Marshall Law for my comfort already, all in the name of a respiratory flu," she said at the time. "It's unnerving ... Let's be vigilant right now. And kind. Watchful and gracious — keeping a close eye on our leaders, making sure they don't abuse this moment to steal away more freedoms and grab more power."

But after widespread backlash to her comments, Lilly apologized for showing "insensitivity" to those that had suffered during the COVID-19 pandemic. She also stated that she began social distancing like everyone else two days after her controversial post.