Trudeau: ‘I turned my back on that promise’
Amid controversy over his disparaging remark about a potential Conservative rival, Justin Trudeau is defending his decision to abandon his Liberal government’s promise to change how Canadians choose their federal leaders. Speaking at a town hall event in Yellowknife, the prime minister says he turned his back on the promise — his words — because he feared proceeding would foster political discord and instability.
He also says he knows people are disappointed and suggests he’s prepared to accept the political consequences, whatever they may be.
Trudeau appeared to be expanding on remarks he made Thursday when he cited Tory leadership candidate Kellie Leitch as an example of someone who ought not be given too much sway in Parliament. He made those remarks in Iqaluit while conversing with a woman who wanted to know why he did not believe a system of proportional representation should replace the current first-past-the-post voting system. Leitch, an Ontario MP, has proposed screening wouldbe immigrants and refugees for “anti-Canadian values,” an idea that has been compared to those championed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
“It is because I felt it was not in the best interests of our country and of our future that I turned my back on that promise,” Trudeau said Friday when asked by a person in the crowd about why he abandoned the plan.
“I know people will be disappointed, yep,” he continued as boos echoed from the crowd. “But this was my choice to make, and I chose to make it with full consequence of the cost that is possibly going to come (from) it, but I will not compromise on what is in the best interests of Canada. That’s what Canadians elected me for.”
He explained that the idea of a ranked ballot was abandoned because too many people believed it would be a system that would favour the Liberals. And a referendum, he said, would foment discord and disunity at a time when the forces of nationalism and populism are whipsawing governments and countries around the world.