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
Demands for government intervention in Air Canada labour talks could negatively affect airline competition in Canada, the CEO of travel company Transat AT Inc. said.
“The extension of such an extraordinary intervention to Air Canada would be an undeniable competitive advantage to the detriment of other Canadian airlines,” Annick Guérard told analysts on an earnings conference call on Thursday.
“The time and urgency is now. It is time to restore healthy competition in Canada,” she added.
Air Canada has asked the federal government to be ready to intervene and request arbitration as early as this weekend to avoid disruptions.
Comments on the potential Air Canada pilot strike or lock out came as Transat reported third-quarter financial results.
Guérard recalled Transat’s labour negotiations with its flight attendants earlier this year, which the company said it handled without asking for government intervention.
The airline’s 2,100 flight attendants voted 99 per cent in favour of a strike mandate and twice rejected tentative deals before approving a new collective agreement in late February.
As the collective agreement for Air Transat pilots ends in June next year, Guérard anticipates similar pressure to increase overall wages as seen in Air Canada’s negotiations, but reckons it will come out “as a win, win, win deal.”
“The pilots are preparing on their side, we are preparing on our side and we’re confident that we’re going to come up with a reasonable deal,” she told analysts when asked about the upcoming negotiations.
The parent company of Air Transat reported it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31. The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.
Revenue totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.
On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.
It attributed reduced revenues to lower airline unit revenues, competition, industry-wide overcapacity and economic uncertainty.
Air Transat is also among the airlines facing challenges related to the recall of Pratt & Whitney turbofan jet engines for inspection and repair.
The recall has so far grounded six aircraft, Guérard said on the call.
“We have agreed to financial compensation for grounded aircraft during the 2023-2024 period,” she said. “Alongside this financial compensation, Pratt & Whitney will provide us with two additional spare engines, which we intend to monetize through a sell and lease back transaction.”
Looking ahead, the CEO said she expects consumer demand to remain somewhat uncertain amid high interest rates.
“We are currently seeing ongoing pricing pressure extending into the winter season,” she added. Air Transat is not planning on adding additional aircraft next year but anticipates stability.
“(2025) for us will be much more stable than 2024 in terms of fleet movements and operation, and this will definitely have a positive effect on cost and customer satisfaction as well,” the CEO told analysts.
“We are more and more moving away from all the disruption that we had to go through early in 2024,” she added.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
