The COVID-19 vaccine mandate protests in Ottawa have divided Canada and Marvel star Evangeline Lilly has urged Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to open up a dialogue with the protestors. 

“I want to speak to you today about your current approach to and current treatment of our fellow Canadians who are protesting your federal vaccine mandates,” the actress said in an Instagram video.

Curiously the video wasn’t posted to the actresses own Instagram account but instead was found on the Instagram account for Canadian news channel Bridge City News.  “They have asked to meet with you, prime minister, medical experts, top scientists, doctors, nurses, parents, grandparents, intelligent, loving, concerned citizens.”

Demonstrations have been going on in the Canadian capital Ottawa for several weeks now. Truckers started protesting a ruling that they had to be vaccinated in order to travel from the U.S. to Canada. The protests soon attracted other people wishing to rally against pandemic restrictions.

That led Trudeau to declare an Emergency Act in an attempt to curb the protests. “We cannot and will not allow illegal and dangerous activities to continue,” he stated in a speech, although the move hasn’t been widely well-received.

Lilly continued: “If you’re 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 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.”

“What we need right now from our leadership is unification, and that requires being willing to see, recognise and hear from the people sitting out in the cold at your door,” she added. There was a mixed reaction online to Lilly’s video, with some fans hinting that Marvel head honcho Kevin Feige might not be too happy (see below).

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This is the second time in a matter of months that the actress has spoken out against vaccine mandates. In January, she confirmed on Instagram that she had attended a rally in Washington D.C.. “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 wrote on Instagram.

“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. I was pro choice before COVID and I am still pro choice today.” It’s unclear why she didn’t also post her Trudeau video on her own Instagram.

Lilly will next be seen as Hope Van Dyne in a Marvel film in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which is set for release in 2023.

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