Meanwhile In Canada, Justin Trudeau Apologizes For Eating Chocolate

Credit to Author: Manisha Krishnan| Date: Thu, 21 Mar 2019 15:51:21 +0000

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau offered an apology Wednesday night, though it wasn’t for the SNC-Lavalin controversy—it was for eating chocolate bar in the House of Commons.

During a Conservative filibuster that saw the voting session extend all night, Conservative MP Scott Reid called out the prime minister and other Liberals for eating in the House, something that’s apparently not allowed. (Presumably, it would cause the Queen to faint at the slight.)

“Mr. Speaker, we all know the rules of the House do not permit us to eat in this place and I couldn’t help but observe that during the last vote a number of people were eating in their seats including the minister of defense, the minister of Canadian heritage, and the prime minister who appeared to be hiding a bagel in his desk,” Reid said, mistaking the chocolate for a bagel.

“Mr. Speaker, the prime minister has already stained this place with corruption, he does not need to stain it with mustard as well.”

Ya burnt, JT.

Reid’s dig was a reference to the allegations that the Prime Minister’s Office improperly pressured former Minister of Justice and Attorney General Jody Wilson-Raybould to intervene in the criminal prosecution of SNC-Lavalin, a Quebec-based engineering giant facing bribery charges.

Responding to Reid’s accusations, Trudeau admitted he was snacking—but not on a bagel.

“Indeed Mr. Speaker, I apologize. It was a chocolate bar but I apologize.”

We do wish he had been more specific. Is he one of those lunatics who bites into a Kit Kat, instead of breaking off the pieces? Does he prefer Aero Mint to the original? Does he pop Chipits into his mouth, one by one?

The Conservatives are filibustering to pressure the government into allowing Wilson-Raybould to once again testify before the justice committee currently looking into the SNC-Lavalin affair.

Wilson-Raybould already testified, but has not spoken before the committee since Gerald Butts, Trudeau’s former principal secretary testified that his office did not pressure her.

It doesn’t look like the government is budging on letting her talk, so who knows what drama will go down in the House next. Maybe someone will say “fart.”

Follow Manisha on Twitter

http://www.vice.com/en_ca/rss