(OTTAWA) Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre on Tuesday avoided pledging not to travel on private government planes if he takes office, despite his repeated criticism of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at this chapter.
Asked about this during a press briefing in British Columbia, the leader of the official opposition sidestepped the question.
The journalist who called him had just pointed out that he deplored, in a video shared on Friday, the movements of Mr. Trudeau on board a “private jet”.
“The reason I mentioned his private jet is because the Prime Minister has become completely disconnected from ordinary people and how they are suffering due to terrible air travel in this country after eight years (in power) of Justin Trudeau. Mr. Poilievre replied.
The Conservative leader underlined the impressive number of complaints made to the Canadian Transportation Agency, criticizing in addition the delays in processing these files.
“(Mr. Trudeau) should be pushing for more competition, getting complaints against airlines and airports heard faster,” Poilievre said.
He accused the prime minister of “jet-moving” more than any of his predecessors while he “likes to lecture people about driving cars too often or heating their homes.”
This is not Mr. Poilievre’s first attack on Justin Trudeau about his travels on government planes. He had notably used this offensive during the first question period when he crossed swords with the Prime Minister as leader of the official opposition.
“It is good to see the Prime Minister here, visiting Canada, to bail out his private jet. However, here, on the ground, in Canada, things are going badly,” he said.
Mr. Poilievre had argued that the cost of living had skyrocketed and that the federal government’s “tax hikes” would add an additional burden on Canadians.
