Trudeau set to address packed house for Winnipeg town hall
Dozens of Winnipeggers lined up down the block for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s appearance at the University of Winnipeg on Thursday.
The forum, which is set to start at 3:45 p.m., followed a media conference that started at 2:15, also held at the University of Winnipeg. By 3:30 p.m., the room was already at capacity.
Before doors opened at 2 p.m. for the press conference, crowds lined up down Spence Street from the doors to the gymnasium on the university campus and down Portage Avenue.
Local medicinal marijuana advocate Steven Stairs stood in line with a large poster reading “Legalize, not legal lies.” He said even if the prime minister didn’t take his question, he was attending the forum to “make a point.”
“My stand is that Canadians won’t — we won’t accept the idea of prohibition under a different name, and that’s exactly what legalization is coming down to,” he said.
Stairs criticized Ottawa’s indications the legalization of marijuana may include strict limits on quantity and potency for users under 25, saying he believes it will force users to seek out high-potency marijuana on the street.
Samantha Peters was another concerned attendee, armed with a sign protesting the Site C dam project in British Columbia.
Samantha Peters protested the B.C. Site C dam project while attending Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s appearance in Winnipeg on Thursday. (CBC)
On Monday, a panel of three judges dismissed a court case filed by the Prophet River and West Moberly First Nations in northeast British Columbia.
The group of First Nations argued flooding 5,500 hectares of the Peace River valley for the Site C dam infringes on their constitutionally protected treaty rights, and the federal government should have taken that into consideration before granting permits allowing the project to go ahead.
10th town hall session this year
It’s the 10th stop — and the only one in Manitoba — in Trudeau’s tour of the country, which began in eastern Ontario earlier this month.
The visit follows stops in Regina, Saskatchewan and Calgary, where the prime minister was challenged Tuesday on his commitment to growing the Albertan economy while also transitioning away from fossil fuels to meet climate change goals.
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His Winnipeg appearance also included a trip to École Robert H. Smith School to meet the roughly 450 students from kindergarten to Grade 6 who sent him letters requesting a visit, and a brief stop at the city’s new Jollibee.
Roughly 80 people were packed into the popular Filipino fast-food restaurant, including Liberal MP Kevin Lamoureux and Liberal MLA Cindy Lamoureux. The father and daughter represent nearby constituencies with large Filipino populations.
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Article source: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/trudeau-winnipeg-town-hall-1.3953563?cmp=rss