Trudeau confronts heckler over wife slur
JUSTIN TRUDEAU lashed out at a heckler who made a sexist remark about his wife as he faced more protests on his campaign trail to secure a third term in office.
The Canadian prime minister has encountered vocal opposition over his vaccine mandates and lockdown policies as he travels the country ahead of the snap election he called for Sept 20.
The 49-year-old was taunted once more as he made his way to an interview at a news studio in Burnaby, British Columbia, on Monday.
One man in the crowd challenged Mr Trudeau to a fight before yelling profanities including an offensive comment about Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, who was not present at the time.
Mr Trudeau pulled down his face mask to jeer at the protester, shouting: “Isn’t there a hospital you should be going to bother right now?”
The comment was a reference to widespread anti-vaccine protests that were staged outside hospitals in Toronto, Calgary, Edmonton, Montreal and Ottawa earlier this week. Prior to his visit to Burnaby Mr Trudeau pledged to make it a criminal offence for demonstrators to intimidate healthcare workers or block access to hospitals if re-elected as prime minister.
The leader of Canada’s Liberal Party called the snap election last month in the hope of regaining the majority he lost in 2019.
Despite an early lead in the polls, recent surveys suggest he is likely to fall short of the 170 seats needed for a majority. While Canadians largely approve of Mr Trudeau’s handling of the pandemic, many have been angered by his decision to call an election as the country faces a fourth wave of Covid-19 infections.
His main rival, Erin O’toole, the Conservative leader, has described the election as “selfishly opportunistic” for Mr Trudeau.