Thread by @josh_wingrove

Good evening. I'm watching PM Trudeau's townhall (or, a video of it, via CTV) and will relay interesting bits. It's being held in Kamloops, BC, so naturally the Wet'suwet'en issue will likely come up.

A Liberal MP from nearby, @fuhrmp, began by acknowledging the local Conservative MP, who is apparently there, @Cathy_McLeod, as well as indigenous leaders.

I should also note, without putting too fine a point on it, this kind of stuff is extremely rare in Canada -- major politicians fielding questions randomly from a crowd, occasionally getting battered by them, with cameras rolling.

Anyhow, here we go.

First Q: "What's your favorite part about the day?" (Ok, soooo, if it's questions like that, maybe that's why he does this).

"We'll see if the end of the town hall is as happy for me as the beginning,'' Trudeau says. (It's when Hadrien, age 4, runs into his room each morning.)

The next question is from a woman basically asking what she can do to not invest in fossil fuels. (She doesn't mention any particular project.)

Trudeau basically goes with his "economy and environment go together" answer. Says Canada is investing in a "clean energy transition."

Trudeau mentions David Suzuki (who questioner name-dropped) and says they "tend to disagree quite vehemently on a number of things" recently. "I'm just a little more optimistic than he is," and about capacity to overcome climate challenges, Trudeau says.

Later comes a question from an international student, asking what his message is. Trudeau says international students are a "blessing" to Canada. (And a boon. We wrote about it here: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…)

If international students decide to leave Canada after school, they leave a more interconnected world, Trudeau says. If they stay in Canada, students bring richness of their countries and perspectives, he says; thanks student for being in Canada.

Trudeau is now defending the national carbon tax, which wont apply in BC but does in 4-5 provinces, depending on which part.

(He's in a Conservative riding; of course, the Conservative Party opposes that plan and would change or somehow overhaul it if elected.)

And here's our first protester/heckler. He's calling for truth and reconciliation with First Nations and talks about pipelines. (I can't make it out.) Trudeau is asking him to sit down and is pressing ahead with the original question.

Next question: How was your tour in India? "I heard on the news it wasn't good. is that right?" (It is.)

Trudeau acknowledges "some challenges on that trip as well, that if we had to do it again, we might not repeat."

He concludes: "It was a trip that happened."

Asked now about call with Japan PM Shinzo Abe.

Trudeau says he "talked about the current difficulties" with China with two citizens "arbitrarily detained"

"The statements that the global community have made" are "a great conversation to have had with Shinzo" and other leaders.

We wrote a bit about that lobbying campaign to pressure China: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…

There've been questions on the G-7 pledge on girls' education and on his childhood.

Pretty friendly crowd, on balance. So, again, maybe that's why he keeps doing these things. Only the protester has alluded to (I think, based on snippets) the Wet'suwet'en/RCMP developments.

Next question is literally "How do you obtain such a wonderful attitude."
("I want to know what news sites you're reading," Trudeau responds as the crowd laughs.)

(Journalists are cynical. But I'm here to relay.)

The next question is from a journalism student who is blind and is struggling with accessibility issues in covering government meetings. Trudeau says they're advancing a bill on disability rights (C-81).

Next question: What do you think about Trump saying the California wildfires were because of Canadian lumber prices.

Trudeau says Canadians expect him to work with Trump; cites the deal on what he calls a "new Nafta."

"I try not to weigh in on various things he says."

Next Q is from what Trudeau called an "enthusiastic bearded fellow in gray"

It's another Trump Q: Would it be so bad to "just push him off a cliff? We're good. Like, really. I'll buy you a beer."

"I wasn't expecting a threat of violence against our closest ally," Trudeau says.

He basically tried to gently tell the guy not to joke about that.

Next Q from an indigenous woman: "What are you going to do to stop oppressing and holding our people under your colonization? When are you going to give us our rights at? When are you going to start giving a shit about who we are as people?"

Trudeau says Canada has a "terrible" history on indigenous rights. Canada has marginalized, and behaved in paternalistic ways, he says. "GENOCIDE," someone yells.

"We have much to apologize for" and much to work forward on, Trudeau says.

"It took decades and centuries to break this relationship. It will take time to improve it," Trudeau says.

Yelling is continuing. "You are afraid to lose your comfort," the original questioner says.

"No I'm not, Tilly. I am ready to walk in partnership with you," Trudeau says.

She says Trudeau should order the RCMP to protect indigenous protesters, not pipeline companies.

Trudeau notes that several First Nations support the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

``It is not for the federal government to decide who speaks for you, that is not my job,'' he says.

Much yelling now.

"You guys are breaking so many laws," the woman (Tilly) says.

RCMP ``have actually just removed the barricade," Trudeau says. ``This is how this is supposed to work." (That line drew applause from a crowd that had stayed mostly silent during the exchange. Getting a bit tense.)

Trudeau thanks Tilly for her question and now on to a question from a woman Trudeau identifies as having "long blonde hair."

Question: how will you address the wage gap?

Trudeau: Reducing barriers for women to succeed in the workforce is fundamentally the right economic move.

Trudeau says men with similar jobs (like maintenance) are typically paid more than women with similar jobs/education (like administration, he says.) He says that needs to be resolved.

Says women also still do "disproportionately large" amount at home even if working full-time.

Update: no one else has yet suggested any actions related to President Trump and cliffs.

AN INTEREST RATE QUESTION!?! BE STILL MY BEATING HEART.

The guy is saying, hey, the current expansion is a bit long in the tooth. Question is what will Trudeau do if a recession does come.

Trudeau's basically saying his government is "investing" to boost resiliency to economic shocks.

Next question is from Tilly's brother, who asks about pollution in rivers. Trudeau says they're working on it, says waterway health is a "priority" for the government.

Next question is on whether Trudeau would lower tuition fees for international students.

Trudeau says high-quality education is expensive and "we feel that it is fair to charge higher tuition prices to international students" than for Canadians.

Next question is on why the Canadian government continues to under-fund indigenous kids' education on-reserve.

Trudeau: Over three years, "significant amounts" done to increase quality of service to level "approaching parity". Still more work to do, he says.

Trudeau also addressed the pipeline issue briefly, saying that indigenous-government relations were awful for a long time and are getting better. (Many in this crowd, as the night has shown, would dispute that.)

Now a question from a guy who doesn't seem to like refugees, and asks about this case: globalnews.ca/news/4437619/m…

He basically blames Trudeau's refugee program for that death. Trudeau says framing it that way isn't his idea of Canadian pluralism.

Trudeau says "we all can be proud of" the Syrian refugees resettled in Canada, and grateful to the church groups and volunteers who helped make that happen.

Now an energy question. Trudeau says Canada is trapped into selling basically all its oil to the U.S., and that means a "massive discount."

"We actually need to reach markets other than the United States for our oil resources," he said. (They've said this before.)

It "really isn't much of a choice at all" between shipping oil by rail or by pipeline, Trudeau says. Modern pipelines are much safer, he says.

He says Canada needs to continue to develop its fossil fuel resources but needs to do it in a thoughtful way.

Now a question from a former mayor who didn't like the court ruling that struck down the permit for the Trans Mountain pipeline (which Trudeau bought off of Kinder Morgan amid uncertainty.) Says he supports resource development. (Sizable applause.)

The guy says Trudeau should be prepared to use the notwithstanding clause to build the pipeline; Trudeau says that clause can't be used to override indigenous Charter rights.

Now a question from a man who says it was a "national disgrace" to dismantle the pipeline protest blockade. Says Canada has no treaty with indigenous communities across parts of BC. "You may have bought a few INAC chiefs, but you don't own us all."

Trudeau, responding to another question, says it's not his goal to make everybody happy all the time.

(As he's answering that, another person interrupts by shouting "NO PIPELINES" repeatedly.)

That's it. By far the night's most pointed questions were on indigenous rights and the Wet'suwet'en.

Trudeau generally left the door open to reviewing RCMP actions, but didn't condemn it. ``There are lots of questions about what happened there, and people will be looking into those,'' he said at one point. At another: "This is how this is supposed to work."

A late addition: Trudeau's full comments on the whole push-Trump-off-a-cliff thing, for those interested, are here: bloomberg.com/news/articles/…