Our 2016 Newsmakers: Take our quiz and match the mugging Justin Trudeau photo-op with the indignation it sparked
Our annual Newsmakers issue highlights the year’s highlights, lowlights, major moments and most important people. Read our Newsmakers 2016 stories here, and read on to see why Justin Trudeau made the list as one of our seven Newsmakers of the Year.
In his first full year as prime minister, Justin Trudeau has rarely been out of the limelight, earning much scorn from critics along the way. Tap the quote that you think correlates to each of the following photo-ops below, criticizing Trudeau for showboating.
Justin Trudeau. (S. Gregory Kolz)
A. “The prime minister can use those same tax dollars of families and fly to New York to work out in front of TV cameras, while families are struggling to pay for their kids’ sports.” Rona Ambrose, Conservative Party interim leader
Incorrect!
B. “He’s got the yoga balance down. Wish he would try to balance the budget of the Government of Canada.” Lisa Raitt, Conservative MP
Correct!
C. “A flower child from the 1960s wants to run the country.” Postmedia editorial
Incorrect!
Justin Trudeau, Bono and Kevin Spacey. (no credit)
A. “It is not sufficient for the Prime Minister to support and defend Canadian oil only while socializing with American actors like Leonardo DiCaprio in a posh hotel in Davos.” Candice Bergen, Conservative MP and resource critic
Correct!
B. “To very cynically start breaking [promises] just because you have a lot of Facebook followers is pretty arrogant and misguided.” Nathan Cullen, NDP MP
Incorrect!
C. “Justin Trudeau will find it hard to screw up a country so well organized, if dull.” Vilma Gryzinski, international affairs columnist for Veja
Incorrect!
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau toasts U.S. President Barack Obama during a state dinner at the White House in Washington March 10, 2016. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)
A. “Feminism is being reduced to a political buzzword.” Ellie Ade Ker, a University of Toronto Ph.D. student
Incorrect!
B. “Dropping it to just $100 per person would price cash-for-access fundraising out of business for good.” Globe and Mail editorial
Incorrect!
C. “[Trudeau] generates more gloss than Revlon and threatens single-handedly to rescue the lifestyle pages of a thousand newspapers.” Rex Murphy, in the National Post
Correct!
Justin Trudeau gives reporter quick lesson on quantum computing during a visit to Waterloo. (YouTube)
A. “I later told the prime minister he should NOT have gotten out of his seat.” Gord Brown, Conservative MP
Incorrect!
B. “It’s humiliating for the province, for First Nations, intervenors and the taxpayers who supported the scientific work done in this review.” Kai Nagata, energy and democracy director at the Dogwood Initiative
Incorrect!
C. “The [budget] surplus is real whether the Liberals want to admit it or not. Frankly, it shouldn’t take an expert … to recognize that.” Rona Ambrose, Conservative interim leader
Correct!
Screengrab from a video of Justin Trudeau and Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau going for a walk on their anniversary in Japan. (CBC)
A. “I’ll see your hubbub about nannies and raise you an anniversary abroad. Bold.” Andrew MacDougall, former communications director for Stephen Harper
Correct!
B. “If it’s a glad-handing, ‘Hi, I was here, take a picture of me’ mission, he doesn’t need to go.'” Jason Blair, real estate agent
Incorrect!
C. “I think the prime minister risks a bit of overexposure and accusations of being a bit too flashy.” Stephen Taylor, former national director of the National Citizens Coalition
Incorrect!
Screen grab of Marnie Recker’s Twitter post about Justin Trudeau. (Marnie Recker Photo/YouTube)
A. “Unless he’s going to roll up his sleeves and get dirty and help rebuild our home, then I don’t see the point in why he’s going.” Jason Blair, real estate agent
Incorrect!
B. “What kind of man elbows a woman? It’s pathetic! You’re pathetic!” Tom Mulcair, NDP Leader
Incorrect!
C. “Canadians need a plan for jobs, instead they’re getting vacation photos of Mr. Trudeau.” Cory Hann, Conservative Party director of communications
Correct!
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (R) spars with Yuri Foreman (L) during a work out at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, New York, USA, 21 April 2016. Trudeau was in New York to participate in the formal signing of the Paris climate agreement on 22 April at the United Nations. (Justin Lane/EPA/CP)
A. “He made us feel unsafe and deeply troubled by the conduct of the prime minister of this country.” Niki Ashton, NDP MP
Incorrect!
B. “You leave the guy home who’s in charge of oil and gas, who can talk about pipelines, the process around pipelines?” Lisa Raitt, Conservative MP
Incorrect!
C. “With their vanity trips … the Liberal government is all about photo ops and self-promotion.” Alexander Nuttall, Conservative MP
Correct!
Justin Trudeau shares a meal with Kristen Kish, American Top Chef. (Youtube)
A. “Not only does this event break the prime minister’s own ethics rules, but it does not pass the smell test.” Rona Ambrose, Conservative interim leader
Incorrect!
B. “Why would the Liberals break their own rules for the prime minister’s special vanity advertising project?” Andrew Scheer, Conservative MP
Correct!
C. “Mr. Trudeau has permission slips from the voters to do a lot of things.” L. Ian MacDonald, editor and publisher of Policy
Incorrect!
