Prime Minister Justin Trudeau withstood several hecklers while hosting the third town hall of his cross-country tour in London, Ontario on Thursday night.
The Prime Minister was scheduled to discuss Canadian jobs and the economy with students and the London community at Western University and took several questions before the first interruption.
While responding to a question from a young boy in the audience who asked Trudeau how he deals with “haters,” a woman in the crowd stood and began to shout at the Prime Minister about free speech, the M-103 motion which condemns Islamophobia in Canada and the suffragette movement.
“You are taking time away from the people who have questions, who are willing to listen, and you are not,” said Trudeau in response to the woman’s shouting. The woman briefly took her seat, but chose to leave the building soon after, escorted by a security team.
The second outburst occured from a man in the audience who also stood and began shouting at Trudeau. The man appeared to be flustered about issues regarding the Supreme Court, but eventually returned to his seat.
The same man later stood again and proceeded to throw papers across the room while shouting. Police escorted the man out of the building while he continued to shout and resist.
Trudeau invited the heckler to stay if he was willing to stop shouting and disturbing the audience.
While being escorted out of the building the heckler responded, “You are disturbing me!”
Although there were several outbursts of shouting by hecklers in the audience, there were also some silent demonstrations carried out during the town hall.
Each time the Prime Minister was faced with a question regarding indigenous issues, Chief Myeengun Henry of the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation and Chief Randall Phillips of the Oneida Nation of the Thames stood in the front row before Trudeau in united silence.
The Prime Minister later called on Chief Phillips for a question. The Chief took the opportunity to express his respect for the Prime Minister and explain why they chose to stand while indigenous issues were being discussed.
“I wanted you to remember that you’re speaking about us and to keep that in mind,” said Chief Phillips.
Although the event was met with some controversial outbursts from hecklers, many students and locals in the London community were able to ask the Prime Minister various questions regarding technology, women in the workforce, renewable energy and indigenous issues.
Did you attend the Town Hall at Western University? Let us know what you though in the comments section below.
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