BREAKING: Trudeau condemns violent protestors, says Canadians have a right to peacefully protest amid pandemic

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau addressed media on Monday, providing update to the federal government's response to COVID-19, as well as the protests taking place south of the border and in Canada.

"By standing together and denouncing the few that would try to derail these demonstrations, Canadians are sending the message that they will never tolerate injustice," said Trudeau.

"The status quo... is unacceptable," Trudeau continued.

Trudeau went on to say the curve has been flattening in Canada, saying that he spoke with provincial premiers on Thursday to help create a plan to reopen their economies, depending on the province.

Trudeau announced a step forward for municipalities facing a "crash crunch," saying that $2.2 billion would be made available in the coming weeks, via the gas tax fund. Normally, funding is made in two instalments. The full 2020-2021 available will be made available immediately.

"We know that this is an initial measure that brings forward money that cities were going to get in six months anyway, but there is a need right now for liquidity and support, as they deal with this COVID crisis," said the prime minister.

Regarding solutions to anti-black racism, Trudeau said that Canadians realized the work needed to be done to combat racism, saying that families needed to feel respected, and that his government has invested money to black community organizations and Statistics Canada to get a better picture of Canada's situation.

With respect to the disruptive demonstrators in Montreal, Trudeau condemned their actions, saying that the right to peacefully protest needed to be protected.

"As we saw in Montreal, we have to condemn those actions strongly, they do not represent the peaceful protestors who are standing up for very real issues in Canada. We need to continue to make sure that peaceful protest is always able to happen in Canada," the prime minister continued.

Trudeau also noted that work was being done with Indigenous communities across the country, saying that there was "continued work" in fighting gender-based violence.

Regarding a potential G7 meeting, Trudeau said it was important that those meetings move forward, also saying that Russia's exclusion from the G7 was due to their invasion of Ukraine, saying it was "not acceptable" for them to rejoin the G7.