Manitoba Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen is calling on the federal government to “lower the temperature” and resolve the ongoing protests at border crossings nation-wide, including one at the Emerson crossing.

“I’m hopeful that the federal government would do that,” Goertzen said at a news conference Thursday afternoon (Feb. 10). “This is an international border, so it falls to their (federal government) responsibility, and (we) can’t have anymore of the divisiveness when it comes to some of the rhetoric, we have to bring that down.”

Goertzen says in order to come to a resolution, it has to start at the top with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

“He is the Prime Minister, he sets the tone, so it’s very important, even if it’s in disagreement that he understands that he is still the Prime Minister for all Canadians, try to find a way through this border impasse that has tremendous implications for us from an economic perspective and for Canadians.”

Goertzen made the comments as protests are ongoing in the province, including one at the Legislative Building in Winnipeg, at the border crossing at Emerson, as well as one that took place near the Steinbach Regional Secondary School yesterday (Thurs).

Goertzen respects the right to protest, but said others have the right to other things as well, such as “the right to sleep in your apartment, the right to be able to get to work on roadways.”

“Same thing at the U.S. border, people have the right to demonstrate. There are truckers who are trying to earn a living and trying to get across that border, and consumers are relying on that,” he added.

Manitoba NDP Leader Wab Kinew believes the provincial government is not responding properly to the protests, adding the province shouldn’t be blaming Trudeau, noting it has a lot of tools to stop this from happening.