Peterborough Mayor calls anti-lockdown protesters 'clown convention'

Peterborough Mayor Diane Therrien took to Twitter on Thursday to attack anti-lockdown protesters as a "travelling clown convention."

In the tweet, Therrien directly tagged independent MPP Randy Hillier and People's Party of Canada leader Maxime Bernier, two politicians who have made a name for themselves for their vocal opposition to lockdown measures.

Therrien followed up her tweet later that afternoon with another tweet in which she tags the same politicians and says "I know you boys are bored but stay [the f**k] home." The tweet included a picture of herself.

Bernier responded by telling Therrien "Canada is my home," with Hillier following up Bernier's tweet with a call for more individuals to come out and protest in Peterborough.

The complaints from Mayor Therrien come as Hillier and Bernier are set to be keynote speakers at an anti-lockdown rally in Peterborough's Confederation Square on Saturday in defiance of Premier Doug Ford's stay at home orders. The event is being hosted by No More Lockdowns Canada.

According to Hillier, the people attending the rally are "people protesting this communism and fascism," referring to the stay at home order. Such protests are illegal under the order, with many people having been ticketed for attending anti-lockdown rallies.

A statement penned by Therrien, Warden J. Murray Jones, MPP Dave Smith, and MP Maryam Monsef have requested that residents of Peterborough do not attend the rally, arguing that such "gatherings have the potential to become superspreader events."

"Thirteen people in Peterborough have already lost their lives to COVID-19. No one wants to see more families devastated by this pandemic," they said.