Trudeau says he thinks about how angry messages affect his family
Prime minister spoke about his job, his party and immigration on a podcast
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a podcast that he thinks about the angry messages some Canadians send his way and what impacts they — and his job overall — will have on his children.
Trudeau appeared on an episode of Inside the Village that was released Friday. On top of discussing his children, the prime minister also spoke about what comes next for him and his embattled Liberal Party and the recently announced cuts to immigration targets.
Here are three key takeaways from the interview:
Trudeau's job and his family
When asked whether he speaks to his children about the animosity directed toward him from some Canadians, including those who wave flags reading "F--- Trudeau," the prime minister said that people don't think much about the flags "but I do."
"That's my daughter's last name on that flag," Trudeau told hosts Michael Friscolanti and Scott Sexsmith. "That's the last name that my two sons will carry throughout their lives."
The prime minister also said there are "a few people who are very angry out there, but they don't represent everyone — most Canadians are decent and thoughtful and just trying to make their way through in this country the best way we can."
According to sources who spoke to CBC News, during a tense caucus meeting on Wednesday where about 20 Liberal MPs stood up to urge Trudeau to step aside before the next election, the prime minister also referenced his work and his children.
The prime minister himself addressed the meeting, and two MPs told CBC News that he became emotional when he talked about his children having to see "F--- Trudeau" signs in public.
During the interview, Trudeau also said that he's "going to try and engage and try to understand" with Canadians who are upset with him but "there are people that can't be reached right now."
In an example, Trudeau mentioned his half-brother Kyle Kemper, who appeared in an interview with right-wing commentator Tucker Carlson in June.
Kemper has been a vocal critic of the prime minister's lockdown policies and the COVID-19 vaccine mandate, but he has also said some of the criticism Trudeau receives is unwarranted.
"[I] love him, still do, always will," Trudeau said. "But, you know, [I] can't have real conversations with him based on facts and reality. And that's a real proportion of our communities, of our families, of our country that has gone that way."
But Trudeau said that he's reassured by the "vast majority" of people who "don't necessarily want that kind of thinking to determine what the future of the country is going to look like."
The Liberal Party's next steps
Trudeau was also asked about the Wednesday caucus meeting and his response to the dissenting MPs who have called on him to step down.
While Trudeau said he is "determined to lead this party into the next election," he also acknowledged that some change is necessary.
"My perspective is yes, we need to make significant changes in how we engage with Canadians over the coming months. But that is part and parcel of what an election campaign is," Trudeau said.
According to CBC's poll tracker, the Conservatives lead by 19 points over the Liberals and would win a massive majority government if an election was held today.
When asked about the ongoing slump in the polls, Trudeau said that he's reminded his colleagues who got elected in 2015 that "they signed up to run for the distant third-place party in the House of Commons ... and we pulled off something big."
"Through the entire first half of the 2015 election, we were way behind in the polls," Trudeau said. "So Canadians tend to make up their minds later."
The prime minister said that a "huge level of frustration" is pointed and directed at him, "but to prejudge the outcome of an election already is something that I don't think people would be too wise in doing."
Although Trudeau has already publicly said he'll continue as leader despite the demand from some of his MPs, they have still given him a Monday deadline to decide his future.
What happens after that deadline isn't clear, but New Brunswick MP Wayne Long — who is part of the dissenting group — has said it will be "up to each individual MP."
Cutting immigration targets
On Thursday, the federal government announced it is cutting the projected number of new permanent residents from 485,000 this year to 395,000 in 2025, with further cuts to 380,000 in 2026 and 365,000 in 2027.
Trudeau said during the interview that the pandemic disrupted Canada's immigration flow, and once things returned to normal there was still a "massive labour shortage" that needed to be addressed.
"We brought in a lot of temporary foreign workers," Trudeau said. "What that ended up doing was it grew our economy to the max.
"But the growth in our population, which was record growth over the past few years, outpaced our community's ability to support it," he added.
On Thursday, Immigration Minister Marc Miller said the new levels plan will stabilize population growth and relieve pressure on the housing market.
"People know immigration is good for growth," Trudeau said. "But right now we need to make sure we're getting things under control again."
The prime minister also said it's not that his government shouldn't have brought in temporary foreign workers after the pandemic, "but we weren't quite as quick as we could have been to turn off the taps."
The new immigration levels plan will cause a 0.2 per cent population decline over the next two years, a government press release said. It said the plan will also "reduce the housing supply gap by approximately 670,000 units" over the next few years.
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With files from Darren Major