Far-left Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is facing mounting frustration in his side of the political aisle for failing to act in the face of growing "Freedom Convoy" protests against coronavirus-related mandates – frustration he tried to stem by making a last-minute appearance in Parliament on Monday night.

Trudeau announced that he had tested positive for Chinese coronavirus on January 31 and that he would be recovering in an undisclosed location. The announcement immediately preceded the arrival of a "Freedom Convoy" of trucks into Ottawa, where they have been parked since, honking in protest and demanding an end to vaccine mandates, mask mandates, and all restrictions on civil rights imposed by the Trudeau government in the name of the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.

The Ottawa protest has been, according to police, largely peaceful, attracting families and creating a party atmosphere in the city's downtown. The prime minister emerged once during his quarantine to broadcast remarks from his undisclosed hideout dismissing the protesters as deranged, racist conspiracy theorists.

"The concerns expressed by a few people gathered in Ottawa, right now, are not new, not surprising, are heard, but are a continuation of what we've unfortunately seen in disinformation and misinformation, online conspiracy theorists, about microchips, about God knows what else that go with tinfoil hats," Trudeau rambled early on in his isolation period.

Trudeau made few comments and announced no policy to deal with the protests – which have spread beyond Ottawa to Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, and several points along Canada's southern border – prior to his last-minute appearance in Parliament on Monday. The Toronto Star observed that Trudeau offered the Canadian people "nearly four full days of silence" before resurfacing in Ottawa.