Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau got involved in a tense exchange with a steelworker during a photo op. The man told Trudeau that his policies left his family struggling to make ends meet.
Footage of the exchange, which took place in Sault Ste. Marie, a city in Ontario, has surfaced on social media. In the video, obtained by CTV News, the unidentified worker turned down Trudeau’s offer for doughnuts, and went on to complain about high taxes and medical bills.
The tense exchange
“The 25% tariffs we just brought in is going to help you out … that’s going to keep your job,” Trudeau told the man.
“What about the 40% taxes I am paying? And I don’t have a doctor,” the employee of Algoma Steel replied.
Trudeau told the man that a multimillion-dollar investment from the Canadian government would ensure he would have a job “for many years to come,” to which the man said he expected that Trudeau would be voted out.
“That’s what elections are for,” Trudeau said, who was calm throughout the conversation. “I look forward to everyone exercising the right to vote. … We are going to invest in you and your job.”
“I don’t believe you for a second,” the steelworker replied.
After Trudeau said something about an initiative to help Canadians get dental care, the worker said that he believed unemployed Canadians had better access to affordable health care than he did. “Probably like my neighbour who doesn’t go to work because she’s lazy?” the steelworker asked.
“You know what? Most Canadians try to stick up for each other, and that’s what we’ve got to keep doing,” Trudeau responded, and wished the man good luck. The worker seemed to refuse a handshake from Trudeau.
Amid a cost-of-living crisis affecting Canada, Trudeau’s government has come under scrutiny. The prime minister, however, has remained optimistic. “Inflation came down last month, beating out expectations,” he wrote in a Facebook post on July 17. “But, until Canadians can feel that relief in their wallets, at the grocery store, and on their mortgages, the job’s not done.”
The next federal election in Canada is scheduled to take place on October 20, 2025.