Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paused for a long 21 seconds when asked Tuesday to comment on U.S. President Donald Trump’s threat to use military force against protesters in the United States demonstrating against the death of a black man in police custody.
After several false starts, Trudeau avoided criticizing the president directly while taking aim at social “injustices.”
“We all watch in horror and consternation at what is going on in the United States,” he said. “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.”
At no point did Trudeau mention the U.S. president by name or criticize his handling of the situation.
On Monday, Trump directed police and national guardsmen under his control to forcibly remove protesters from Lafayette Square, a park directly across from the north lawn of the White House, so that he could later walk to neighbouring St. John’s Episcopal Church for a photo opportunity.
Watch: Trudeau pauses for 21 seconds on question about Trump’s actions
Asked about U.S. President Donald Trump threatening the use of military force against protestors in the United States, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paused for 21 seconds before saying “we all watch in horror and consternation.” He did not comment on Trump. 2:59
During a Monday press conference in the Rose Garden — with riots and looting taking place in major U.S. cities and with the sound of tear gas guns firing in the background — Trump promised to be a “law and order president.”
Trump warned that if governors don’t deploy the National Guard in sufficient numbers to “dominate the streets,” the military would step in to “quickly solve the problem for them.”
When asked again why he did not want to directly address Trump’s actions, Trudeau said his job as prime minister is to focus on Canadians.
“Canadians need a government that will be there for them, that will support them and that will move us forward in the right direction, and I will do that,” Trudeau said.
Watch: Chrystia Freeland is concerned about ‘Canadian complacency’
Asked why the government won’t criticize U.S. President Donald Trump by name over his threats to use the army against protesters, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland avoided talking about the president and said she’s worried about “Canadian complacency” regarding anti-black racism. 2:09
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was equally reluctant to speak about Trump’s handling of the crisis, saying she’s focused on issues closer to home.
“What I am concerned about, actually, is Canadian complacency. I think it’s really important for us to set our own house in order and for us to be really aware of the pain that anti-black racism causes here in our own country,” she said. “My focus is on Canada.”
Trudeau has long been hesitant to wade into domestic U.S. politics or condemn Trump’s more controversial remarks.
Trump has been known to lash out at his critics and Trudeau has tried to maintain a diplomatic relationship with the leader of Canada’s largest trading partner.
Trudeau did not mention Trump by name when he condemned white nationalist protests in Charlottesville, Virginia that turned violent when neo-Nazis clashed with other activists (Trump said there were “some very fine people on both sides“) but rather reminded Canadians that racism is alive in our own country.
Watch: ‘We hear your calls for justice, equality and accountability’: Trudeau
In a speech to the House of Commons Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said racism has no place in Canada and promised his government is listening to calls for justice and accountability. 6:05
When Trump told four minority Democratic congresswomen to go back to where they came from, Trudeau pivoted again to the Canadian context.
“That is not how we do things in Canada. A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian,” Trudeau said.
When Trump reportedly called Haiti and some African nations “shithole” countries, Trudeau said he wouldn’t weigh in on what the president “may or may not have said” about predominantly black countries.
“I think you all know that I’m not going to opine on what the president may or may not have said. I will simply repeat that Canada is a country of openness, of respect,” Trudeau said.
‘I’m not perfect’
The prime minister was also pressed Tuesday to respond to a September 2017 UN report that recommended major structural changes to Canadian life to improve the lives of people of African descent. Some of the report’s recommendations have been gathering dust since it was first presented to the government.
The report recommended an apology from Trudeau for Canada’s history of slavery and called on the federal government to consider providing reparations to black people for enslavement and historical injustices. It said black people should be recognized as a “distinct group.”
“We need to take a hard look at our institutions to ensure that those barriers that may be invisible to many of us, but are far too present for black Canadians and racialized Canadians, are addressed,” he said of the UN report.
Watch: Andrew Scheer says ‘racism is real, it is painful’
Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer said all Canadians have been affected by the killing of George Flloyd and condemned those exploiting the tragedy to commit violence during a speech in the House of Commons on Tuesday. 7:45
Speaking later in the House of Commons as party leaders paid tribute to Floyd, Trudeau again expressed solidarity with minorities calling for an end to systemic racism in Canada.
He acknowledged his history of wearing blackface — “I’m not perfect,” he said — while saying such mistakes are “not an excuse to not do the right thing. It’s not an excuse to not step up.”
“I know that for so many people listening right now, the last thing you want to hear is another speech on racism from a white politician,” he said.
“I’m not here today to describe a reality I do not know, or speak to a pain I have not felt. I’m here because I want you to know our government is listening.”
Trudeau pointed to actions his government has already taken — including a $45-million plan called “Building a Foundation for Change: Canada’s Anti-Racism Strategy” and the creation of an anti-racism secretariat — but vowed to do more in the wake of Floyd’s death in Minnesota.
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh said black and Indigenous people are “tired of pretty words and speeches from people in power” and urged Trudeau to take immediate action to reform the criminal justice system to make it fairer for people of colour.
Singh said Canada must confront its own history of racist violence.
He spoke of Regis Korchinski-Paquet, a black woman he said died in “suspicious circumstances” after an interaction with Toronto police last week, and Stewart Kevin Andrews, a young Indigenous man who was killed by police in Winnipeg in April.
“How many more people need to die before there’s action?” Singh said.
In his own speech on the Floyd death, Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer cited the contributions of black Canadians to national life — from athletes like Harry Jerome to businesspeople like cattle rancher John Ware and civil rights activists like Viola Desmond — and said anti-black racism should never be tolerated.
“Racism is real, it is painful and it is wrong,” Scheer said. “No one should ever feel unsafe because of the colour of their skin, especially around police officers.”
Watch: Federal party leaders condemn racism, violence
In speeches before the House of Commons Tuesday, Canada’s federal political leaders called for greater tolerance and understanding following the death in police custody of George Floyd in the U.S. 5:22
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) — A linebacker at Division II West Virginia State was fatally shot during what the university said Thursday is being investigated by police as a home invasion.
The body of Jyilek Zyiare Harrington, 21, of Charlotte, North Carolina, was found inside an apartment Wednesday night in Charleston, police Lt. Tony Hazelett said in a statement.
Hazelett said several gunshots were fired during a disturbance in a hallway and inside the apartment. The statement said Harrington had multiple gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene. Police said they had no information on a possible suspect.
West Virginia State said counselors were available to students and faculty on campus.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with Jyilek’s family as they mourn the loss of this incredible young man,” West Virginia State President Ericke S. Cage said in a letter to students and faculty.
Harrington, a senior, had eight total tackles, including a sack, in a 27-24 win at Barton College last week.
“Jyilek truly embodied what it means to be a student-athlete and was a leader not only on campus but in the community,” West Virginia State Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics Nate Burton said. “Jyilek was a young man that, during Christmas, would create a GoFundMe to help less fortunate families.”
Burton said donations to a fund established by the athletic department in Harrington’s memory will be distributed to an organization in Charlotte to continue his charity work.
West Virginia State’s home opener against Carson-Newman, originally scheduled for Thursday night, has been rescheduled to Friday, and a private vigil involving both teams was set for Thursday night. Harrington previously attended Carson-Newman, where he made seven tackles in six games last season. He began his college career at Division II Erskine College.
“Carson-Newman joins West Virginia State in mourning the untimely passing of former student-athlete Jyilek Harrington,” Carson-Newman Vice President of Athletics Matt Pope said in a statement. “The Harrington family and the Yellow Jackets’ campus community is in our prayers. News like this is sad to hear anytime, but today it feels worse with two teams who knew him coming together to play.”
DETROIT (AP) — Joe Schmidt, the Hall of Fame linebacker who helped the Detroit Lions win NFL championships in 1953 and 1957 and later coached the team, has died. He was 92.
The Lions said family informed the team Schmidt died Wednesday. A cause of death was not provided.
One of pro football’s first great middle linebackers, Schmidt played his entire NFL career with the Lions from 1953-65. An eight-time All-Pro, he was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1973 and the college football version in 2000.
“Joe likes to say that at one point in his career, he was 6-3, but he had tackled so many fullbacks that it drove his neck into his shoulders and now he is 6-foot,” said the late Lions owner William Clay Ford, Schmidt’s presenter at his Hall of Fame induction in 1973. “At any rate, he was listed at 6-feet and as I say was marginal for that position. There are, however, qualities that certainly scouts or anybody who is drafting a ballplayer cannot measure.”
Born in Pittsburgh, Schmidt played college football in his hometown at Pitt, beginning his stint there as a fullback and guard before coach Len Casanova switched him to linebacker.
“Pitt provided me with the opportunity to do what I’ve wanted to do, and further myself through my athletic abilities,” Schmidt said. “Everything I have stemmed from that opportunity.”
Schmidt dealt with injuries throughout his college career and was drafted by the Lions in the seventh round in 1953. As defenses evolved in that era, Schmidt’s speed, savvy and tackling ability made him a valuable part of some of the franchise’s greatest teams.
Schmidt was elected to the Pro Bowl 10 straight years from 1955-64, and after his arrival, the Lions won the last two of their three NFL titles in the 1950s.
In a 1957 playoff game at San Francisco, the Lions trailed 27-7 in the third quarter before rallying to win 31-27. That was the NFL’s largest comeback in postseason history until Buffalo rallied from a 32-point deficit to beat Houston in 1993.
“We just decided to go after them, blitz them almost every down,” Schmidt recalled. “We had nothing to lose. When you’re up against it, you let both barrels fly.”
Schmidt became an assistant coach after wrapping up his career as a player. He was Detroit’s head coach from 1967-72, going 43-35-7.
Schmidt was part of the NFL’s All-Time Team revealed in 2019 to celebrate the league’s centennial season. Of course, he’d gone into the Hall of Fame 46 years earlier.
Not bad for an undersized seventh-round draft pick.
“It was a dream of mine to play football,” Schmidt told the Detroit Free Press in 2017. “I had so many people tell me that I was too small. That I couldn’t play. I had so many negative people say negative things about me … that it makes you feel good inside. I said, ‘OK, I’ll prove it to you.’”
VICTORIA – British Columbia’s Environment Assessment Office has fined Coastal GasLink Pipeline Ltd. $590,000 for “deficiencies” in the construction of its pipeline crossing the province.
The office says in a statement that 10 administrative penalties have been levied against the company for non-compliance with requirements of its environmental assessment certificate.
It says the fines come after problems with erosion and sediment control measures were identified by enforcement officers along the pipeline route across northern B.C. in April and May 2023.
The office says that the latest financial penalties reflect its escalation of enforcement due to repeated non-compliance of its requirements.
Four previous penalties have been issued for failing to control erosion and sediment valued at almost $800,000, while a fifth fine of $6,000 was handed out for providing false or misleading information.
The office says it prioritized its inspections along the 670-kilometre route by air and ground as a result of the continued concerns, leading to 59 warnings and 13 stop-work orders along the pipeline that has now been completed.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
