‘Everyone has limits’: Trudeau defends snapping at protester who insulted his wife

On social media, there were mixed reactions to the prime minister’s reaction to the heckler

Canadian prime minister Justine Trudeau has defended snapping at a protestor who insulted his wife Sophie Gregoire and said that he has “no regrets” about it.

On Monday, a protestor heckled Ms Gregoire and made derogatory remarks about her to which the prime minister reacted sharply.

On Tuesday, the Liberal leader said: “I think Canadians know that I have a pretty thick skin. And I am able to take all sorts of different abuse, especially if it means that someone is not somewhere else hassling frontline health workers.”

He told the reporters: “I signed up for this. My family believes deeply in what I’m doing and put up with an awful lot.” He added that “he went after my family. He said hateful, misogynistic things about my wife. But everyone has limits. I will always be there to try to push back when someone crosses those lines.”

Mr Trudeau has been heckled repeatedly by people protesting the mandatory Covid-19 vaccinations. The prime minister, responding to questions about mandatory vaccinations responded last month saying that “Canadians know that the way to get through this pandemic is for everyone to get vaccinated. So unless people have a medical exception, they will not be able to board a plane or a train in Canada if they are unvaccinated.”

The prime minister was even hit by gravel by a protestor.

On Monday, Mr Trudeau was preparing for an interview outside Global TV studios in Burnaby, B.C. ahead of the federal elections scheduled for 20 September. A man standing across the road made derogatory remarks about the prime minister’s partner and that is when Mr Trudeau shouted back “Isn’t there a hospital you should be going to bother right now?”

Critics, however, accused the 49-year-old leader of being insensitive.

Mr Trudeau also accused the Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole of backing those who oppose mandatory vaccinations.

Many anti-vaxxers have turned up at the prime minister campaign spots.

At a stop in Markham, Ontario, Mr Trudeau said: “We’re unequivocal that civil servants must be vaccinated. If anyone doesn’t have a legitimate medical reason for not getting fully vaccinated – or chooses to not get vaccinated – there will be consequences.”

Earlier on Monday, Mr Trudeau had said he would criminalise protests that block access to hospitals and intimidate healthcare workers.

Meanwhile, on social media, there were mixed reactions to the Canadian prime minister defending his wife from the heckler.

One user said: “The most powerful person in Canada shouldn’t give a sh*t about petty things. It showed he breaks when he can’t control his environment.”

Another came to his defence: “I’m ashamed of Canada’s media. This ‘person’ called PM Trudeau’s wife Sophie a wh*re and Trudeau rightly defended her. Our media chose not to support our PM  but instead attacked him for using sarcasm. This is appalling behaviour by our media and all Canadians should be outraged.”