Canadians Are Outraged That Justin Trudeau Elbowed Someone And Hasn't Apologized Enough Yet

Some are calling this Canadian faux pax Elbowgate, as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau found himself at the center of controversy over what qualifies in Canada as a heated physical exchange.

After apparently giving a female member of parliament an elbow to the chest, many were outraged at Trudeau’s actions, described by another MP as “physical molestation.”

Ruth Ellen Brosseau, the parliament member on the receiving end of Trudeau’s elbow, was apparently so upset she had to leave the chamber. She later demanded that Trudeau “apologize unreservedly.”

According to CBC News:

“Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was accused of ‘manhandling’ Opposition whip Gord Brown and elbowing NDP MP Ruth Ellen Brosseau in the House of Commons as MPs gathered for a vote on the government’s assisted-dying bill Wednesday afternoon.

In video from the House, Trudeau is seen walking toward Brown in a crowd of MPs in the Commons aisle, taking his arm in an apparent effort to move Brown toward his seat. While doing so, he encountered Brosseau, who was also standing in the aisle and was seen physically reacting after the contact.”

“I was trying to start the vote, the prime minister grabbed my arm. I immediately told the prime minister to let go of me — now,” Brown said in a statement released later. “Immediately afterward, the prime minister went back down the aisle of the House to confront other members of opposition parties.”

“I later told the prime minister he should NOT have gotten out of his seat,” Brown added.

All that said, video of the incident makes the elbowing look like an honest mistake, and, at least to my American eyes, doesn’t quite deserve the description of “physical molestation.”