Conservatives deny links to protesters who harassed Singh on Parliament Hill

Conservatives are denying any association with protesters who harassed Jagmeet Singh, among others, outside of Parliament Hill this week after Liberal ministers accused them of lending their support.

A video circulated online Tuesday showing two men following the NDP leader, as one of them appears to call him a «corrupted bastard.»

Singh turned around and confronted the two men, asking who had hurled the insult.

The two men denied making the remark and appeared to back off, which prompted Singh to call one of them a «coward» for not saying it to his face.

Immigration Minister Marc Miller and Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault applauded Singh on Wednesday for defending himself and decried the harassment purported by the protesters.

«As much as I was proud of Jagmeet for standing up to this guy, it shouldn't have gotten to that. There's a bunch of knuckleheads walking around the Hill with their own agenda,» Miller said.

The immigration minister went on to accuse Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of playing «footsies» with the group of protesters and called on him to «repudiate» the harassment by «people that support him.»

Miller and Boissonnault also called out Conservative MP Michael Cooper after Press Progress reported he was out socializing with the same group of protesters who have been outside Parliament Hill this week.

In a statement, Cooper denied association with the protesters and said he was approached by them while having dinner.

«I went to a restaurant in Ottawa to have dinner. At the restaurant, I was recognized by a group of people who approached me and took photos. I am in no way associated with these individuals and was not meeting with them,» Cooper said.

The Press Progress report shared photos and videos