Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Friday that the attack this week on Capitol Hill in Washington was a “shocking” event and an assault on democracy incited by President Donald Trump.
During his speech at his residence at Rideau Cottage in Ottawa, the leader of the Liberal Party said, “What we witnessed was an assault on democracy by violent rioters at the instigation of the current president and other politicians.”
“As far as it is horrific, deeply disturbing, and frankly sad that this event is still taking place, this week we also saw that democracy is resilient in America, our closest ally. Violence has no place in our societies, and extremists will not succeed in undermining the will of the people.”
Trudeau said that the words used by political leaders have a direct impact on the behavior of individuals and their institutions, adding that everyone has heard what the US President said before the “horrific” events occurred.
The Canadian Prime Minister said that events in the United States are a reminder that democracy is not “automatic” and that no one should take it for granted in this country. “We know that, even as we watch with great concern everything unfolding in the United States over the past few days … we are not immune to that in Canada,” he added.
“We, as Canadians, have a responsibility to continue to lead respectfully, to engage greatly with different points of view and never resort to violence as a means to influence public discourse. This is something that Canadians have re-committed to across the country over these past days, and we will remain very vigilant to remember,” the leader of the liberals said. The choices we make as leaders and politicians have consequences. “
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