The leader of Canada’s centre-left New Democratic Party is slamming Prime Minister Justin Trudeau for his failure to condemn U.S. President Donald Trump’s “reprehensible” actions in response to anti-black racism protests that have gripped the country.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has accused the prime minister of hypocrisy for refusing to even mention Trump in his public remarks about the protests.
“The prime minister of Canada has to call out the hatred and racism happening just south of the border and if the prime minister can’t do that how can everyday people be expected to stand up?” Singh said Wednesday.
“The prime minister should lead by example.”
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is seen as he pauses during a response to a question on racism during a news conference outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Tuesday June 2, 2020. As long-standing anger about discrimination boils over in the United States, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Canadians must recognize there is systemic racism in their own country. (Adrian Wyld/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
Trudeau hesitated for 21 seconds on Tuesday before answering a question about Trump’s threat to use military force to quell protests across the U.S.
“We all watch in horror and consternation what’s going on in the United States,” Trudeau told the press conference in Ottawa.
“It is a time to pull people together … it is a time to listen. It is a time to learn, when injustices continue despite progress over years and decades.”
Over the past several days, Trudeau has refused to directly criticize Trump’s over his response to the protests, sparked by the death of George Floyd, an unarmed black man, in Minneapolis police custody.
Instead, Trudeau has used the questions about the protests in the U.S. to remind Canadians that racism is also a problem in Canada.
A White House staff member gestures to move the press corps back as U.S. President Donald Trump walks between lines of riot police for a photo opportunity at St John’s Church during ongoing protests over racial inequality in the wake of the death of George Floyd while in Minneapolis police custody, near the White House in Washington, U.S., June 1, 2020. (Tom Brenner/REUTERS)
Singh said Trump’s actions are “reprehensible” and are inflaming tensions in the United States.
“There are times when we have to be strategic and there are times when we have to stand up for what’s right,” Singh said.
“And this is one of those times you have to stand up for what’s right.”
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Trudeau’s answer during Tuesday’s press conference was “excellent and eloquent.”
“I think that the most important response of any Canadian political leader has to be to understand our own responsibility for what happens here in our own country,” she said.
Many experts point out that with more than 75 per cent of Canada’s exports going into the U.S., no Canadian leader can afford to seriously antagonize the U.S. president.
Outgoing Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer, who leads the officials opposition in the House of Commons, has also refrained from openly criticizing Trump.
With files from John Paul Tasker of CBC News
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