Justin Trudeau says he 鈥渦nderstands鈥� his MP鈥檚 frustrations, after John McKay was secretly recorded saying his leader had a 鈥渂ozo eruption鈥� in declaring that anti-abortion candidates cannot run for the party.
Trudeau made the comments to reporters as he arrived on Parliament Hill Tuesday morning, a day after 麻豆影视 revealed McKay鈥檚 candid remarks about Trudeau鈥檚 abortion stance.
鈥淛ohn McKay is a good man and a good friend and a great environment critic and he feels passionately about this issue,鈥� Trudeau said. 鈥淎nd I understand his frustrations.鈥�
Later Tuesday, Trudeau said McKay apologized to him personally and he considers the matter closed, CTV鈥檚 Omar Sachedina reported.
McKay, a Toronto MP who opposes abortion, thought he was having a private conversation at an event Sunday when he discussed his concerns with Trudeau.
鈥淚鈥檝e had umpteen conversations with so many people about this. It鈥檚 driving me crazy,鈥� he is heard saying in the .
鈥淚 initially thought it was a bozo eruption; that he didn鈥檛 actually think about what he said,鈥� McKay said after he was asked about the abortion issue.
鈥淏ut even more disturbing is that his brain trust might have actually thought about this, and if they did 鈥� it scares the hell out of me. If you don鈥檛 know this is a toxic issue for a population then you have no political sense whatsoever.鈥�
The audio recording was made by someone with Conservative leanings.
McKay was surprised to learn that he was being recorded during the conversation and called it 鈥済otcha鈥� politics.
In a statement, he told 麻豆影视: 鈥淚 made ill advised comments in what I thought was a private conversation where I didn鈥檛 know I was being secretly recorded.鈥�
One of McKay鈥檚 colleagues, Liberal MP Marc Garneau, said Tuesday that McKay is 鈥渁 very principled鈥� person who believed he was expressing his views in private.
鈥淚n that sense, he is entitled to have his private comments and he certainly wasn鈥檛 expecting it to be made public,鈥� Garneau said in Ottawa.
In response to the recording, the Liberal Party said Monday that Trudeau 鈥渞espects Mr. McKay,鈥� who has 鈥渟trong, personal feelings about this issue and often in those situations people say thing that they come to regret.鈥�
Trudeau told reporters earlier this month that any prospective Liberal MPs who are anti-abortion will be flagged and barred during the nomination process.
鈥淚 have made it clear that future candidates need to be completely understanding that they will be expected to vote pro-choice on any bills,鈥� he said, adding that beliefs of long-time Liberal MPs who are anti-abortion 鈥渨ill be respected to a certain extent.鈥�
McKay has told The Canadian Press that he鈥檒l likely have 鈥渁 few awkward moments鈥� being in the minority among Liberal MPs on the issue.
With a report from CTV鈥檚 Deputy Ottawa Bureau Chief Laurie Graham
