Conservatives are attacking comments made by Liberal leadership candidate Justin Trudeau two years ago about 鈥淎lbertans who control our community,鈥� as the Liberals hope to win an upset victory in the Calgary Centre byelection.
Trudeau鈥檚 remarks, made during an interview in November 2010 with the Quebec television show Les francs-tireurs, resurfaced in a news report Thursday.
When asked whether Canada is "better served when there are more Quebecers in charge than Albertans," Trudeau said the best prime ministers have been from Quebec.
鈥淚鈥檓 a Liberal, so of course I think so,鈥� Trudeau said.
鈥淲hen we look at the great prime ministers of the 20th century, those that really stood the test of time, they were MPs from Quebec,鈥� he added.
Conservatives were quick to slam Trudeau over the remarks.
鈥淲hen I first saw Mr. Trudeau鈥檚 quotes I thought it was a parody,鈥� Immigration Minister Jason Kenney told Power Play on Thursday.
Kenney linked Trudeau鈥檚 comments to his late father鈥檚 鈥渄ivisive鈥� policies towards Western Canada like the National Energy Program.
鈥淭his is not just a one-off, this is not just a lapse in judgment, this really reflects the core ideal the Liberal party has towards Alberta,鈥� he said.
Kenney said voters in Calgary Centre will have a choice to make: 鈥淒o they want to return an MP who鈥檚 going to be a strong voice for Calgary in a government led by this prime minister who鈥檚 got the best economic record in the developed world, or do they want to give licence to these kinds of divisive attitudes?鈥�
Ahead of the Nov. 26 byelection, a recent Forum Research poll had Liberal candidate Harvey Locke at 30 per cent and Conservative candidate Joan Crockatt at 35 per cent.
That suggests a close race, relative to the results of the last election, when the Conservatives took 58 per cent of the vote and the Liberals finished in a distant second with 18 per cent.
Trudeau鈥檚 campaign advisor Gerald Butts said the comments are being publicized two years later because the Conservatives are afraid of what could happen in Calgary Centre.
鈥淭he Conservatives are very afraid that they鈥檙e losing one of their stronghold ridings to a Liberal in a byelection, and that鈥檚 why all this stuff is coming out right now,鈥� he told Power Play.
In a statement released earlier Thursday, Trudeau鈥檚 campaign staff said the Conservatives had resorted to 鈥渟mear campaigns to stop their slide.鈥�
鈥淛ustin knows that Calgary, Alberta and all of western Canada are at the very heart of Canada鈥檚 future,鈥� the statement said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 a message he has taken to every part of the country, from the beginning of the campaign. We need to get beyond the divisive politics of the Conservatives and include all Canadians.鈥�
Here is a translation of what Trudeau said about Alberta during his interview on Les francs-tireurs:
Are you on the same page as the Quebec nationalists who say French needs to be defended?
"It鈥檚 funny. It鈥檚 a question I get asked when I go door to door. In 40 per cent of my constituency -- especially in Villeray, where the majority voted yes in the referendum -- they鈥檙e sovereigntists who see me coming and say, 鈥淣o, we don鈥檛 want a Trudeau!鈥� But I say, listen, at a basic level we both agree that our language, culture and values need to be defended. We have something special here in Quebec that deserves to be defended so it can go on for another three or four centuries, for millennia. But we鈥檙e not in agreement about how to go about doing that. You say the best way to protect French is to close in on ourselves, build walls, protect ourselves like that. I think the best way to protect French in North America is to expand and conquer Canada. Things are hard in Canada right now because it鈥檚 Albertans who are controlling our community and socio-democratic agenda. That doesn鈥檛 work."
Is Canada better served when there are more Quebecers in power than when there are more Albertans in power?
"Well, I鈥檓 liberal so I think yes, and certainly when we look at the big prime ministers of the 20th century, the only ones who really handled things where those from Quebec. It was Trudeau, it was Mulroney, it was Chrétien, it was Paul Martin. So, we have a role. Canada belongs to us."
