Canadians are responding negatively to a collection of old social media posts from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that touch on gun control, government overspending and ethical lapses.
The posts, many from before Trudeau was elected prime minister, were first brought to the attention of Canadians by X user Alex Zoltan or @AmazingZoltan.
In one post from 2012, Trudeau called out the former Conservative government for their spending.
“THIS is the party of ‘less government’? Ridiculous. They have increased gvt spending more than any before them,” wrote Trudeau.
The Trudeau government has become synonymous with overspending, with the Parliamentary Budget Officer Yves Giroux estimating that the Liberals’ deficit will reach a whopping $46.8 billion this year.
“Based on our analysis, the government will not meet its fiscal commitment to keep the deficit below $40 billion in 2023-24,” said Giroux in his latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook report last month.
“Nah bro, you the champ now,” responded one X user. “Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is on track to record the five highest levels of per-person spending (2018 to 2022) in Canadian history.”
Another Trudeau post from 2011 has him trading barbs with another user over his ability to operate a firearm, to which Trudeau retorted by claiming he had been shooting since he was a child and that he had a licence to possess restricted firearms.
“@DeanLeask I’ll take that bet, I’ve been shooting since age five, and have my Possession and Acquisition for Restricted and Non-. #LGR,” wrote Trudeau.
“So it’s okay for you to own the firearms, just not us then huh? This tweet is going to bite you hard in a few weeks lol,” wrote one user.
The Trudeau government announced a sweeping ban of once-legal guns in 2021, implementing a national buyback program. However, to date, not a single firearm has been turned in and the program is projected to cost taxpayers over $100 million by the end of this fiscal year.
Despite the gun ban’s implementation in 2021, police-reported crime in Canada has increased for the past three consecutive years. up 2% last year, 4% in 2022 and 5% in 2021, according to Statistics Canada.
Another post from 2013 had Trudeau lamenting the then-Conservative government under former prime minister Stephen Harper, saying that it was “hard not to feel disappointed in your government when every day there is a new scandal.”
“So this is proof that time travel does exist,” responded one X user.
The Trudeau government has seen a litany of scandals since 2015, including SNC Lavalin affair, the ArriveCAN app, Aga Khan, We Charity controversy, cash-for-access fundraisers, and the latest scandal involving former Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault and his past business dealings and fake Indigenous heritage.
Another user responded by saying, “Hi, from 2024. You do know that the Internet is FOREVER!”
On a lighter note, Zoltan also noted the time Trudeau was briefly tricked into thinking that his political campaign signs bore a QR code which led them to a porn site due to a misprint of liberal.ca being spelled “luberal.ca.”
This was the work of a copy editor for the Montreal Gazette Steve Faguy, which quickly promoted a response from the prime minister, who commented, “Very cute. Got me for a sec, I almost called my office in a panic, until I remembered it was April 1st. And the QR code actually links to justin.ca.”
Trudeau then decided to get in on the joke as well, by posting this to X, “Porn site QR code problem. We’re working on it. http://bit.ly/gyLFVo” which linked to Faguy’s website.
This left many Canadians scratching their heads before realizing it was April 1st themselves.
Faguy later told the Toronto Star that Trudeau getting in on the joke made him “almost” want to vote for him, saying “It’s nice to see he has a sense of humour. . . I almost feel like I should vote for the guy now. Almost.”