Asked about online harms bill, Poilievre raises Trudeau's past use of blackface

Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said Wednesday his party is vehemently opposed to the government's forthcoming online harms legislation, a bill designed to combat hate speech, terrorist content and some violent material on the internet.

Saying he won't accept "Justin Trudeau's woke authoritarian agenda," Poilievre said the prime minister and his government shouldn't be deciding what constitutes "hate speech" online and called the legislation an "attack on freedom of expression."

"Justin Trudeau said anyone who criticized him during the pandemic was engaging in hate speech," Poilievre said, citing Trudeau's COVID-era comment that trucker convoy protesters were "a small fringe minority" who were "holding unacceptable views."

The Liberal government has touted the legislation as a way to rein in online abuse and force social media companies to do a better job of policing platforms where degrading content is a regular feature of the user experience.

Poilievre said that as far as his caucus is concerned, the bill is dead on arrival.

"What does Justin Trudeau mean when he says the words 'hate speech'? He means the speech he hates," Poilievre said. "You can assume he will ban all of that."

Poilievre also framed his opposition in deeply personal terms, saying Trudeau is not the leader to legislate on this issue.

He said no one should take lessons on hate from a prime minister who once wore blackface and racist costumes.

"I point out the irony that someone who spent the first half of his adult life as a practicing racist, who dressed up in hideous racist costumes so many times he says he can't remember them all, should then be the arbiter of what constitutes hate. What he should actually do is look into his own heart and ask himself why he was such a hateful racist," Poilievre said.

While he opposes the upcoming online harms legislation, Poilievre suggested he's open to another kind of crackdown on content.

Asked Wednesday if he supports a law that would require age verification before accessing pornography online, Poilievre said he does.

There's a Senate bill, S-210, working its way through Parliament aimed at doing just that.

Pictures of Trudeau dressed in blackface first emerged in the 2019 election campaign.

The decades-old images showed Trudeau dressed up as Aladdin, with his face darkened by makeup, at an Arabian Nights-themed gala held when he was a teacher.