Published 20:05 IST, November 28th 2020
Trudeau’s office releases details of phone call he 'was going to make' to Oppn leader
Justin Trudeau chided minister and MPS for downplaying threat of the pandemic and withholding the actual death figures of Albertans in a call that wasn't made
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Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's office on November 27 accidentally released an account of Trudeau ‘scolding’ an opposition leader on a phone call for a suggestion about the “COVID-19 pandemic” even before he held talks with the minister. In an ‘oops’ moment, the PMO Canada circulated details of Trudeau’s ‘future’ phone call with Conservative Leader Erin O’Toole when it hadn’t actually happened. According to the sources of The Canadian Press, Trudeau chided the minister and the MPS for downplaying the threat of the pandemic and withholding the actual death figures of Albertans. Trudeau had meant to scold the Alberta MP for sharing an article’s image on Facebook that read only 10 of 369 Albertans had lost lives to the coronavirus.
Meanwhile, the Canadian PM also objected or rather was going to object to the Ontario MP Dean Allison’s statement in a talk-radio interview where he described the SARS-CoV-2 similar to ‘influenza’ or pneumonia, downplaying the severity of the virus. However, it may be noted that the Canadian PM hadn’t yet raised those objections, but his office circulated the statement beforehand. And after Trudeau held the phone call with the ministers, confusion ensued, as he hadn’t brought up those issues with the MPs. According to the premature statement mistakenly released by the office, it was claimed that Trudeau, in fact, had chided the MPs. Scrambling to rectify the error, Canadain PM Trudeau instructed his office to distribute a second read-out of the call with the details of the conversation that had "actually taken place".
Spoke about Biden, China, Keystone XL oil pipeline
In the statement released later, the two leaders held a discussion about the vaccine distribution in Canada, as well as president-elect Joe Biden’s incoming government in the US and briefly about the coronavirus pandemic. According to The Canadian Press, O’Toole dispatched a separate letter to the PM later related to the production of the personal protective equipment for the adequate hospital supply and issues related to the US Canada border, and threats posed by China. O’Toole also discussed the Keystone XL oil pipeline that was approved by US President Donald Trump but the Biden administration is most likely going to oppose it.
20:05 IST, November 28th 2020