‘PROFOUND LACK OF JUDGEMENT’
MacKay accuses Trudeau of encouraging children to use drugs.
Justice Minister Peter MacKay is accusing Liberal leader Justin Trudeau of promoting recreational drug use “directly to children” after Mr. Trudeau discussed his party’s plans to legalize marijuana while speaking to a Brandon, Man., public school.
“He’s already sending children the message recreational drug use is OK. Now, he’s delivering that message directly to children,” wrote Mr. MacKay in a fundraising letter sent out on Thursday.
“That’s wrong, on so many different levels,” he wrote, adding that Mr. Trudeau’s “allies in the media” are “making excuses for his mistakes.”
The issue also appeared to dominate Mr. MacKay’s appearance at the final press conference of a gathering of provincial justice ministers in Whitehorse, Yukon.
Just as questions wrapped up on Thursday, Mr. MacKay interjected to call Mr. Trudeau’s actions “disgusting,” “appalling” and showing a “profound lack of judgment.”
Mr. Trudeau was in Brandon on Wednesday to offer support to the Liberal candidate running in one of four federal byelections.
According to a series of Tweets, including some from the managing editor of the Brandon Sun, Mr. Trudeau stopped in to a school in Sioux Valley, where he took some by surprise when he explained his stance on pot.
In fairness, James O’Connor, managing editor of the Brandon Sun newspaper wrote in a Twitter message, Mr. Trudeau was asked about it.
It was “totally wrong” to say that Mr. Trudeau promoted illegal drug use to elementary school students, added Mr. O’Connor. Jillian Austin, a reporter for the
Brandon Sun, said Mr. Trudeau started by saying that marijuana was dangerous for young people, and that he believed regulating pot would make it safer for children.
According to attendees, the audience was a mix of elementary and high school students.
In a response to Mr. MacKay’s accusations, Mr. Trudeau wrote in a statement that “a remarkable thing happened yesterday when I answered a question from a student from the Sioux Valley High School. The students in the room applauded a politician with a message to stay off drugs, and that the current system is not doing enough to keep it out of the hands of kids.
Students in the room applauded a politician with a message to stay o drugs
“That the Conservatives would put out a statement condemning the courage showed by those students is shameful. Peter MacKay should retract his statement.”
Mr. MacKay’s allegation is the latest in a Tory drive — including an ongoing radio ad campaign — designed to brand Mr. Trudeau as a political light- weight prone to bizarre gaffes.
Most notably, last week Mr. Trudeau was speaking at a muchmocked, women-only Toronto fundraiser when he was asked “which nation’s administration” he admired the most.
In response, Mr. Trudeau cited the dictatorship in the People’s Republic of China, saying that its totalitarian rule is “allowing them to actually turn their economy around on a dime and say ‘ We need to go green fastest.… we need to start investing in solar.’ ”
The Liberal Party of Canada does indeed promote a policy to legalize and regulate recreational marijuana, citing it as the best way to end Canada’s “failed war on drugs.” In August, Mr. Trudeau admitted to using pot while he was a sitting MP.