Trudeau blasted as 'a liar'

Photo: The Canadian Press

Audience members react as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during town hall Q&A at Thompson Rivers University.

Indigenous people voiced their anger and frustration with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Wednesday at a chaotic town hall in Kamloops, loudly interrupting him to condemn the arrests of protesters at a pipeline blockade.

While Trudeau was answering a question on accountability for the oil and gas industry, a man who identified himself as Will George stood up and began to yell that the prime minister had lied about wanting reconciliation with First Nations.

"You're getting people arrested," George said. "You're a liar and a weak leader. What do you tell your children?"

Trudeau calmly asked George, several times, to sit down and allow him to finish answering the question. After several minutes, the man apologized and sat down, to applause from the crowd.

RCMP arrested 14 people Monday at a pipeline blockade in northwestern B.C., sparking protests across the country. Demonstrators on both sides of the pipeline debate appeared at Trudeau's events in Kamloops on Wednesday.

Trudeau fielded a variety of questions at the town hall, but his fiery exchanges with Indigenous people dominated the event. When he called on a First Nations woman in the crowd, she asked him what he would do to stop oppressing her people.

"When are you going to give us our rights back?" she asked, to cheers and applause.

The prime minister replied that Canada has a "long and terrible history" with regards to First Nations, but his government is working toward reconciliation and met with Indigenous leaders to discuss self-governance on Tuesday.

"It will take time to improve (the relationship), but we are making significant progress," he said.

"You are afraid to lose everything you benefit from our oppression and our suffering. You are afraid to lose your comfort," the woman yelled.

"No, I'm not," Trudeau replied. "I am ready to walk in partnership with you and building the future and that is what we've been doing ... I understand the anger and the passion that you have about protecting your land."

After a lengthy exchange in which the woman continued to press him on how he allowed the arrests to happen, Trudeau said it was possible the woman was "not listening" to him and he tried to move on. Members of the crowd continued to occasionally yell, with one crying out, "Shame on you!"

Later, a man who identified himself as Arnie Jack from the Shuswap Nation said Canada does not have a deed to its territory and has no right to build the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion through its lands.

Jack described the arrests in northern B.C. as a "national disgrace."

"Do you have a deed to Shuswap territory? Have you brought one here tonight to impose your jurisdiction on us?" Jack asked.

"No, I did not," Trudeau said, adding that having a "deed" is an old way of doing things and instead he wants to move forward in partnership with Indigenous Peoples.

Several audience members raised concerns about climate change, including a 65-year-old woman concerned about her grandson's future. She said she had spoken with environmentalist David Suzuki, who was critical of the Liberal government's handling of the climate.

"There is no question we're in a time of difficult change," Trudeau replied, but he added that his government is moving forward with a price on carbon and there are tremendous causes for optimism, and that's where he disagrees with Suzuki.

"I'm just a little more optimistic than he is," Trudeau said.