Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau wants his fellow countrymen to drastically reduce plastic waste and do their part in his campaign for “A Cleaner Future.”
But when pressed on what, exactly, the Trudeau family does to make things better for the environment, the young liberal politician gets a little tongue tied.
The question was simple: “What do you and your family do to cut back on plastics?” a reporter asked at a Monday press conference.
Trudeau, standing before a picturesque lake, struggled to come up with a clear answer.
Watch Trudeau’s stumbling response to reporter who asked him “What do you and your family do to cut back on plastics”
Good hair doesn’t buy you smarts!#cdnpoli #plasticpollution #sunnyways pic.twitter.com/GsmQzFQqbp
— Canadabuster (@Canadabuster) June 10, 2019
“We have recently switched to drinking water bottles out of, uh water, when we have water bottles, out of a plastic … sorry, away from plastic towards paper drink box water bottle sort of things,” the prime minister said.
Folks online aren’t buying it.
So you’re basically lying @JustinTrudeau .
If you can’t answer the question, you are doing nothing!
— Pugsley 🐀🚑🇨🇦 (@PugsleySiegel) June 10, 2019
“So you’re basically lying @JustinTrudeau,” Pugsley posted to Twitter. “If you can’t answer the question, you are doing nothing!”
Our PM. He’s very articulate.
— Brent (@TheBrent) June 10, 2019
“Our PM. He’s very articulate,” Brent added.
Wow. You know it’s bad when you can’t even handle the softball questions from a player on your own team. I can picture Telford now:
“Quick! Edit that segment out! Scrub it! Burn it! Quick! Somebody get me two Advils! God…it’s 10am on a Monday…Quick! Somebody get me a scotch!”— Jay (@jaydeeesskay) June 10, 2019
“Wow. You know it’s bad when you can’t even handle the softball questions from a player on your own team,” Jay wrote.
Drink box water bottles are now on sale at your local grocery!
— kelownakid (@dehbergy) June 10, 2019
“Good hair doesn’t buy you smarts,” Canadabuster posted.
Jokes aide, Trudeau’s campaign comes with serious government-imposed lifestyle changes for Canadians with a ban on several kinds of single use plastic products by 2021, an initiative his critics contend is tied more to politics than science.
“We need to cover all of Canada with this decision and that’s why the federal government is moving forward on a science-based approach to establishing which harmful single-use plastics we will be eliminating as of 2021,” Trudeau said, according to CBC.
Government officials told the news site the list of banned plastic items isn’t yet complete, but will likely include things like cotton swabs, drink stirrers, plates, balloon sticks, fast food cups and plastic shopping bags, straws and numerous other items.
The plan will also require Canadian companies that make products from plastic to “take responsibility” for the entire life cycle of the item, CBC reports.
“Whether we’re talking about plastic bottles or cellphones, it will be up to businesses to take responsibility for the plastics they’re manufacturing and putting out into the world,” Trudeau said.
Conservatives in Ottawa contend Trudeau’s plastic ban is simply an attempt to divert attention from a series of scandals that have dragged down his popularity and put his re-election in doubt.
“In the dying days of this government t – with a scandal-plagued government, with a prime minister desperate to change the channel – we see another gesture without a plan without any kind of specifics about how this would be implemented or any kind of study on the impact on prices for consumers, on jobs, on how this would affect small businesses,” Conservative leader Andrew Scheer told CBC.
“This is clearly just a government clutching at straws,” he said.
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