Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sparked outrage on Wednesday in the Canadian House of Commons when he accused a Jewish member of the Conservative Party of supporting “people who wave swastikas”.
Trudeau made the remarks during the daily grilling period in the lower chamber of the Canadian Parliament after coming under fire from Conservative MP Melissa Lantzman, who became the first elected Jewish woman in her party last October, Fox News reported.
Lantzmann read out two quotes from Trudeau – one in which he criticized the alleged “Freedom Caravan” protesters who… Organized demonstrations to combat COVID In Ottawa and at various border crossings.
“If Canadians are going to trust their government, their government needs to trust Canadians,” Lantsman said, echoing Trudeau’s words from 2015.
Lantzmann then brought up how Trudeau recently described protesters as “often misogynists, racists, misogynists, science deniers, and parties.”
“The same prime minister, six years later fanning the flames of an unjustified national emergency,” Lantzmann said.
“When did the prime minister lose his way?” she asked, sparking applause from her party members.
But their applause quickly turned into shouts after Trudeau, a member of the Liberal Party, responded.
“Conservatives can stand with people waving the swastika, and they can stand with people waving the Confederate flag,” Trudeau said.
“We will choose to stand with Canadians who deserve to be able to access their jobs, to be able to get their lives back. These illegal protests must stop, and they will.”
Conservative MP Dean Lloyd Trudeau criticized Trudeau for his comments and demanded an apology.
“Mr. Lloyd, Prime Minister, said, I have never seen such shameful and disgraceful statements by this Prime Minister.
“There are members of this conservative grouping who are descendants of the victims of the Holocaust,” he said.
Later in the session, after Trudeau left the lower room, Lantzmann spoke about what the prime minister had said.
“I am a strong Jewish woman and a member of this house and a descendant of a Holocaust survivor and …
Except for today, when the Prime Minister accused me of standing with the swastika. I think he owes me an apology. I would like to apologize and I think he owes an apology to all the members of this house.”