Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming “support from conspiracy theorists and extremists” after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, something his office has defended.
“Every politician has to make decisions about what kind of leader they want to be,” Trudeau said Wednesday while promoting his budget. “Are they the kind of leader who is going to exacerbate divisions, fear and polarization in our country? Make personal attacks and welcome support from conspiracy theorists and extremists?”
“Because that’s exactly what Pierre Poilievre continues to do,” Trudeau said, suggesting his main opponent has yet to come up with a leadership plan that goes beyond exploiting Canadians’ fears.
The prime minister was responding to media questions about comments Poilievre made in a recent appearance on Atlantic Canada.
On Tuesday night, Poilievre met with protesters at the Nova Scotia-New Brunswick border, whose vehicles were adorned with flags reading “F*ck Trudeau,” as part of a self-described “hold the line protest,” according to multiple posts on social media. .
As seen in a post, which CTV News has not verified, the federal Conservative leader posed for photographs and told those gathered to “keep it up.” In another, Poilievre accused the prime minister of lying about “everything.”
The most recent protesters have been demonstrating in opposition to the carbon tax, which Poilievre has been crisscrossing the country promising to “eliminate”, while pressuring the government to change its pollution pricing policy, through a series of procedural measures in Parliament.
But, as reported Broadbent Institute Press ProgressMembers of the group have previously been affiliated with the “Freedom Convoy”, which protested against public health restrictions imposed by the government, as well as the far-right group Diagolon.
The prime minister said Poilievre’s meeting with these protesters “really shows that he will do anything to win… And it just emphasizes that he has nothing to say to actually solve the problems that he is busy amplifying.”
Asked for comment on the Conservative leader’s recent roadside stop, Poilievre spokesman Sebastian Skamski said that on the way between events in Atlantic Canada, Poilievre “noticed a protest against the carbon tax.”
“As a vocal opponent of Justin Trudeau’s punishing carbon tax, which has raised the cost of food, gas and heat, he made a brief, impromptu stop,” Skamski said, adding that if Trudeau is concerned about extremism he should ” “look at parades on Canadian streets that openly celebrate the Hamas massacre of Jews on October 7.”
Trudeau has said the glorification of anti-Semitic violence and murder by Hamas is “unconscionable” and has no place in Canada. Poilievre has also condemned comments made at recent protests.
Trudeau on Alex Jones endorsement
Trudeau also took aim at Poilievre on Wednesday for not denouncing American conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ recent endorsement of the Conservative leader as “Saying the same things as me.”
“Alex Jones is a proven liar and conspiracy theorist who has to pay hundreds of millions of dollars because he lied about the Sandy Hook murder… This is the kind of man who says Pierre Poilievre has the right ideas to carry the country towards the truth,” Trudeau said.
In response to the prime minister’s call for Poilievre to condemn Jones, Poilievre’s office said that, unlike Trudeau, the Official Opposition “isn’t paying attention to what any American says.”
“It’s the support of everyday, hard-working Canadians that the Conservatives are trying to win,” Skamski said.
‘Deliberately trying to divide’: Singh
Reacting to Poilievre’s recorded comments to protesters, NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh accused the Conservative leader of “deliberately trying to divide Canadians.”
“One of the things I’ve seen over and over again from Pierre Poilievre is something that really disappoints me in terms of leadership. Leaders should be someone who unites Canadians. Leaders should not be someone who is irresponsible with language, fuels division, that fuels hate,” Singh said.
“He’s someone who’s been endorsed by people like Alex Jones and Tucker Carlson.”
‘I trust Canadians’: Trudeau
Asked what he would say to Canadians who agree with Poilievre and the growing anger directed at him, the prime minister said that in a democracy people can express themselves and vote “however they want.”
But he believes that when campaign time comes, the electorate will “take a careful look” at who presents plans to solve current challenges.
“I know that Canadians are going to think a lot about the kind of country we want to live in. What kind of choice are we making about the future we are building? Are we solving the challenges we face? Or, are we simply exacerbating and amplifying them? ?” Trudeau said.
“I trust Canadians to be reasonable.”
For months, the prime minister has trailed Poilievre in the polls, and a new Léger poll suggests the Liberals have failed to persuade voters with their latest budget.
“There is no doubt that the political ice is cracking under the feet of the government. Everyone understands it, everyone sees it. That does not mean that every attack the Prime Minister launches against Pierre Poilievre is false, and it does not mean that every issue he raises should not be explored,” CTV News political analyst Scott Reid said Wednesday.
“There is a really strong feeling in the liberal camp that they have to make a move, that they have to lay down a gauntlet… This trajectory will not end in re-election and they know that they have to change it.”
He suggested that for the Liberals to get this message out about their main rival, the party will have to spend a lot of money on a political advertising campaign.