‘HIRE CLOWNS, GET A CIRCUS’: Poilievre says Trudeau’s an international embarrassment
Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre has raked Prime Minister Justin Trudeau over the coals for his hypocrisy on “feminism”, economic policy and displaying his “weakness” on an international stage.
Poilievre also noted the Canadian dollar plummeted below 70 cents on the US dollar, and mentioned Canada needs a leader that can “face” President-elect Donald Trump.
“If you hire clowns, you get a circus,” said Poilievre.
“The real consequences of (Monday's) clown show are playing out in tragedies right across the country.”
Poilievre was referring to the “chaotic” events that played out in Ottawa on Monday, including reportedly going through four finance ministers in one day — on the day the Liberals were due to release its Fall Economic Statement — following the resignation of Chrystia Freeland.
Freeland stepped down from caucus Monday morning, citing disagreements with the prime minister, and his remarks that he would like to see her replaced.
Government House Leader Karina Gould ended up presenting the Fall Economic Statement, which documented a staggering $61.9 billion deficit — well above the Liberals self-imposed $40 billion guardrail.
Simultaneously, Trudeau was elsewhere on Parliament Hill swearing in his childhood buddy Dominic LeBlanc, who already holds two other cabinet portfolios, as finance minister.
Trudeau reportedly wanted former Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney, though he is not an elected public servant, to serve as finance minister, but that apparently didn’t pan out. Then reportedly both Liberal MPs François-Philippe Champagne and Randy Boissonnault briefly took on the finance minister mantle on Monday, before the hat finally settled on LeBlanc.
Poilievre speaking at a press conference Tuesday morning pointed to Freeland being replaced by a man, despite his “feminist” comments made last week.
“The deficit is 50% higher than we were promised. Our dollar has plunged below 70 cents American for the first time in ages,” said Poilievre.
“Let’s talk about this incredible, ridiculous, embarrassing Liberal chaos on Parliament Hill — the world markets were watching to find out the size of our deficit.”
“Remember Chrystia Freeland, after helping Justin Trudeau double the national debt at more debt than all prior prime ministers combined, said we can't go beyond the $40 billion guard rail, or else we'll go off the cliffs.”
“But throughout the year, with the prompting of Carbon Tax Carney, Trudeau’s, number one economic adviser, (the prime minister) led the finance minister further and further leftward, more spending for this or that ‘costly political gimmick,’ if I can use the words of Miss Freeland.”
“As we were approaching the fall update, he grabbed the wheel entirely, jerked it to the left, smashed the bus through the guardrail and off the cliff. And then he thought he would blame Freeland before it all.”
Poilievre said Trudeau and Carney had a “deal” for Carney to take Freeland’s job, but “when Carney saw how bad it all went, he didn’t want it."
“So just blame Chrystia Freeland and make her go away. Some feminist. The same week as Trudeau was assaulting Americans for not electing a woman president, he was busy throwing his own woman deputy prime minister under the bus to replace her with a man. You can't make this stuff up," said Poilievre.
Besides the staggering cost of living, “there is the national humiliation of the president of the United States laughing at our prime minister,” he added.
“What an embarrassment to all Canadians. Canadians are good, proud, decent people. We as a country were admired in this world before."
Trump has “a strong and fresh mandate, and he's someone who is a very powerful negotiator, who see who can spot weakness from a mile away,” said Poilievre.
“And what does he see when he looks at Justin Trudeau and the NDP-Liberal government? He sees a ridiculous clown show of chaos, and that screams weakness.”
"President Trump has made it clear that he wants our jobs and our money. Justin Trudeau's chaotic clown show will only help him get it. We need a strong leader who will negotiate with backbone and brains.”
Trump on Monday wrote on social media that no one will miss the "totally toxic" Freeland, and again called Trudeau the "governor" of Canada.
The tweet from Trump “just shows that Justin Trudeau and his chaotic clown show makes Canada weak, shows Trudeau has lost control of everything — lost control of borders, lost control of immigration, lost control of spending, inflation and debt, and Canadians are paying the price for this chaotic NDP-Liberal clown show," said Poilievre.
“Everyone is laughing all around the world. Trudeau and the NDP liberals are seen as ridiculous these the price, though, is in smaller paychecks, higher costs, fewer jobs, more fine chaos, drugs, and danger. But the good news is that Canadians can elect a common sense. Conservative government.
