Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Conservative leader Pierre Poilievre's policies on the economy and attacks on Canadian institutions are "reckless and irresponsible."."What Canadians need is responsible leadership. Buzzwords, dog whistles and careless attacks don't add up to a plan for Canadians," Trudeau said.."Attacking the institutions that make our society fair, safe, and free is not responsible leadership," Trudeau said..Speaking to reporters at the Liberal Party's three-day cabinet retreat in New Brunswick, Trudeau congratulated Poilievre for his victory and said he is willing to work with the Conservative leader on solving Canada's challenges. On Saturday, Poilievre secured a resounding 68% of the vote in the Conservative leadership race, well above rival Jean Charest's 16% of the vote..The prime minister said he also wouldn't hesitate to call out Poilievre for presenting "highly questionable, reckless economic ideas.".Trudeau criticized Poilievre’s for supporting the digital currency Bitcoin early in his leadership campaign, claiming that telling people to opt-out of inflation by investing in "volatile cryptocurrencies," is not responsible leadership.."By the way, anyone who followed that advice would have seen their life savings destroyed,” Trudeau said, referring to Bitcoin's price tumbling from $40,000 to $20,000 over the summer..Trudeau also slammed the new Conservative leader for fighting against COVID-19 vaccines that "saved millions of lives," in reference to Poilievre's support for the Freedom Convoy protests and pledge to scrap all vaccine mandates..READ MORE: EXCLUSIVE: Vaccine-injured Canadians search for answers.Trudeau said Poilievre's repeated opposition to the "supports and investments that have helped save jobs and businesses during the pandemic," was not responsible leadership. While on the campaign trail, Poilievre repeatedly slammed the Bank of Canada for failing its mandate of keeping inflation under 2%, and attacked the Liberals for what he called "reckless" spending.."We'll keep putting Canadians at the centre of what we do," Trudeau said. "We will continue to stand up for what we believe in, together.".Trudeau added that "now is not the time for politicians to exploit fears and to pit people one against the other.".Before Trudeau's first caucus meeting of the day, he was asked by reporters what Poilievre-led Conservative party meant to him “A lot of work," he responded in French..Trudeau's comments came on the same day that Poilievre called on the Liberals to "commit today that there will be no new tax increases on workers and on seniors.".During Poilievre's address to the Conservative caucus, Poilievre said that while the party is "always happy" to collaborate, they will not support "any new tax increases, and we will fight tooth and nail on this.".Parliamentarians will be returning to Ottawa by September 19, when the next session will begin in the House of Commons.
