Information reaching Kossyderrickent has it that Canadians believe Jeff Ballingall, conservative staffer, is the one getting snotty with Justin Trudeau at Algoma steel in Sault Ste. Marie.
Taking to social media, a Canadian, Michael wrote: “So it turned out the steel worker getting snotty with Trudeau was not a steel worker at all, but actually a conservative staffer named Jeff Ballingall. It was all a photobomb stunt. I dealt with photobombing operatives when I worked for PPC, even Jeremy Mackenzie did it.”
Trudeau took a canoe trip down the Saint Marys River with Brad Robinson, the co-owner and CEO of Indigenous-led Thrive Tours.(opens in a new tab)
The prime minister was accompanied downriver by the Sault MP Terry Sheehan, the other co-owner of the tour company that provided the canoes, Amanda Cora, Batchewana First Nation Chief Mark McCoy(opens in a new tab) and former chief Dean Sayers.
Trudeau responded by saying that a multimillion-dollar investment from the Canadian government meant the man would have a job “for many years to come.” The man responded by saying that he expected Trudeau to be voted out.
“That’s what elections are for,” said the Liberal Party leader, who stayed calm and collected during the exchange. “I look forward to everyone exercising the right to vote. … We are going to invest in you and your job.”
Footage of the tense exchange in Sault Ste. Marie, a city in Ontario, which was obtained by CTV News, went viral. The unidentified worker spurned Trudeau’s offer of doughnuts to complain about high taxes, medical bills and giveaways to people he deemed “lazy.”
“The 25% tariffs we just brought in is going to help you out … that’s going to keep your job,” Trudeau told the man.
“What about the 40% taxes I am paying? And I don’t have a doctor,” the employee of Algoma Steel shot back.
