At the end of his daily coronavirus briefing on Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked if his government was “standing up to China” or “backing away from China.”
At the end of his daily coronavirus briefing on Friday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was asked if his government was "standing up to China" or "backing away from China."
Trudeau responded by talking about his responsibilities as prime minister. He did not address China at all, and then he turned and walked away.
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View on XThe question came from the Globe's Marieke Walsh: "The former prime minister of Australia, Malcolm Turnbull says that China is a bully. And that the way for Canada to deal with China is to stand up to them instead of backing down. Is your government standing up to China or is it backing away from China?"
Trudeau responded by saying, “My responsibility as prime minister is to make sure that we are providing for Canadians and keeping Canadians safe. That’s the job people expect me to do and that is exactly what I’m doing,
“We’re going to ensure that Canadians have the equipment, the supplies, the support they need to make it through this pandemic. Of course, at the same time, we will be asking difficult questions about how we’re making it through this pandemic, how this came to happen, how we can learn from this.
“There’ll be plenty of time for questions in the months to come. My focus, rightly, is on doing everything I can to help Canadians through this.”
Walsh can be heard trying to follow up on the issue of China, but Trudeau turned and walked away without answering. Trudeau's press conferences typically provide reporters one question, along with one follow up.
Walsh is the only reporter that Trudeau did not allow a follow-up question to.
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