Former NDP Leader Tom Mulcair said despite Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's "incredible political skill," many Canadians are beginning to have an "overarching sense of this government's incompetence."."You can't get a passport in any reasonable delay," he said Tuesday. "Your baggage will go missing if you take a flight, there's a strong chance of that. Three of the 10 worst airports in the world coming out of the pandemic are right here in Canada. And if you're trying to bring in family members for a wedding, good luck getting a visa, because nothing's working in the immigration department," Mulcair said in an interview with CTV News..Mulcair, who led the New Democrats from 2012 to 2017, was responding to a question about a recent Abacus Poll. That survey found that more than half of Canadians believed the country was headed in the wrong direction..READ MORE: Abacus poll finds Conservatives have largest lead over Liberals since 2015.Mulcair called the statistic a "key finding" and said it would take more than a "single speech or a promise" for the governing Liberals to turn it around. While Mulcair said Trudeau was shown to be a skilled politician by winning three elections, his cabinet ran into several problems the last year.."Mr. Trudeau has tried to put forward his different ministers. He sends out his transport minister, he'll send out others, but people get the sense that they're not doing the job, even on key issues like justice," Mulcair said, pointing to Justice Minister David Lametti's issues dealing with Quebec's use of the notwithstanding clause on Bill 96.."What could have been easier than to say, 'We will actually take a reference case to the Supreme Court to question Bill 96, removing the equality of English and French before the courts here in Quebec?' It's something that would have been a slam dunk. But David Lametti obviously is not allowed to do that, even though it cries out for a solution," Mulcair said..Mulcair said Canadians are sensing not only is the federal government going in the wrong direction, but it can't handle the job of running the government altogether.."Mr. Trudeau does all the big stuff well, he travels internationally, and he makes great speeches. But when he gets back to Canada, people say, 'why is nothing working?' And that's where people are right now," he said..When asked about the Globe and Mail report that China attempted to influence the 2019 election, as well as the Liberals' insistence this was not the case, Mulcair said there was an "obvious contradiction there."."Mr. Trudeau made a thing about putting his index finger under the nose of the Chinese president, and he had his people spin that he had been giving him what for [sic] for interfering in Canadian elections. When he got back to Canada ... he completely changed his tune in and started muttering there was nothing.".READ MORE: WATCH: Poilievre and Blanchet team up against Trudeau over Chinese electoral interference.Mulcair said this must have been "frustrating" for the Canadian Security Intelligence Service, which gave the Globe and Mail access to documents showing they had warned the prime minister about Chinese interference in a Canadian election. He also called Trudeau's response to the revelation "so weak."."He goes, 'well, it didn't change the result of the election. Maybe it would have been a minority anyway,' but that's not the issue," Mulcair said.."The issue is a foreign country interfering in our elections and the answer is yes, and your knew about it, but you're still not coming clean. And the question is why? ".Mulcair hearkened back to Trudeau's infamous 2013 comments at a Toronto fundraising event, when he answered a question about what his favourite country was outside of Canada.."He famously said, 'China, because of its basic dictatorship, they can turn things around on a dime on issues like climate change,' Mulcair said.."It was supposed to be natural and nobody had given him his line. So I guess his handlers wish they had given him lines, because that one is going to stick with him for a long time.".Mulcair was also asked about the resurgence of the Bloc Quebecois in the polls in Quebec, which he partially attributed to the controversy surrounding the new anti-Islamophobia representative Amira Elghawaby. She was forced to apologize to Quebecers after her previous comments accusing the province of targeting minorities resurfaced..READ MORE: Anti-Islamophobia representative Elghawaby apologizes for comments about Quebecers."She's apologized sincerely, she should be given a chance, but I do think it didn't go over at all with many people here in Quebec," Mulcair said..He said the Bloc's resurgence in the polls "doesn't mean anything" as the country is not in an election. ."But I do know that the back rooms of the Liberal Party right now, they're looking at a dashboard that's got nothing but red flashing lights, and they're trying to figure out what to do to take this thing back in the right direction."
