Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday rejected a call from parliament member Jagmeet Singh to bar President Trump from attending the G7 summit that is set to take place in Canada in June, saying it is “not responsible.”
Trudeau, who announced his intent to step down as prime minister and as the leader of the Liberal Party last month, will not be the country’s head during the G7 summit in Kananaskis, Alberta, this summer. Despite the resignation, he called the demand to disinvite Trump from the gathering “shocking.”
“I think it’s easy for politicians to toss out easy and shocking things to say. We see a lot of that around the world these days,” Trudeau said during a news conference in Montreal, when asked about Singh’s proposal.
Singh, who is a leader of the National Democratic Party, is the first Canadian politician to have demanded Trump be uninvited from the summit.
In a statement, the lawmaker said, “Why would we invite someone who threatens our sovereignty and economic well-being? Why would we invite someone who threatens the economic well-being of allies and threatens the world’s stability?”
“Why would we allow a convicted criminal into our country,” Singh added.
Trump has recently garnered the disdain of Canadian citizens by threatening to impose significant tariffs on goods imported into the U.S. from its northern neighbor and suggesting a merge of the countries to establish Canada as the 51st state.
On Feb. 11, Trudeau reacted strongly to the Trump administration’s proposal to place tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Criticizing the decision, he called the additional taxes “unjustified” and warned the U.S. that Canada would respond in kind “if it comes to that.”
“Tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminum would be entirely unjustified,” he told reporters at the time.
