(Caraquet) Prime Minister Justin Trudeau attacked the premier of New Brunswick and other conservative leaders in the country on Thursday, denouncing the provincial government’s position on abortion, young people from LGBTQ communities and climate change.
At a press conference in Caraquet, on the Acadian peninsula, Mr. Trudeau began his attack when journalists asked him if he would campaign with the New Brunswick Liberals in the next provincial election, which is to be held by October.
Despite his desire to “work with any government” in Canada, the federal Prime Minister gave up: “I have problems with the current government of New Brunswick.”
Mr. Trudeau said Progressive Conservative Prime Minister Blaine Higgs did not respect “women’s right to choose.” The premier was referring to a New Brunswick regulation that prohibits public funding of abortions performed outside of hospitals.
This directive was blamed for the closure earlier this year of “Clinique 554” in Fredericton.
The closure of this private clinic, declared Mr. Trudeau, who described as “shame” the refusal “to allow women to really choose what happens to their future and to their bodies”.
“I will continue to call out the New Brunswick government and any conservative leader who continues to attack women’s rights,” he said.
Mr. Higgs’ office did not respond to a request for comment Thursday. But the Higgs government maintains that two-thirds of all abortions in New Brunswick are performed using the publicly funded abortion pill Mifegymiso. Provincially funded surgical abortions are also offered at two hospitals in Moncton and one hospital in Bathurst.
Mr. Trudeau then addressed the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision Thursday to overturn that country’s constitutional right to abortion, saying Canada could face similar restrictions if the Conservatives were in power.
Restrictions on abortion, Mr. Trudeau said, are now “more likely to happen in Canada, especially with conservative leaders who continue to fail to defend women’s rights.”
The premier also criticized the Higgs government’s changes to provincial policy on gender identity in schools.
The revised policy requires teachers to obtain parental consent before they can use the preferred first names and pronouns of transgender and non-binary students under the age of 16.
Mr. Trudeau argued Thursday that Prime Minister Higgs and other Conservatives across the country were trying to score political points with the plight of “incredibly vulnerable” transgender and non-binary children.
Finally, he blasted Higgs’ calls for the elimination of federal carbon pricing, saying the New Brunswick premier wanted to “give up” on Canada’s fight against climate change.