Justin Trudeau to miss this year’s Calgary Stampede, his office says
Global News
The annual 10-day rodeo and festival is usually a must-do event for politicians and Trudeau hasn't missed a summer except for the COVID-19 years of 2020 and 2021.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s summer campaign circuit will not include a stop at the Calgary Stampede.
The annual 10-day rodeo and festival is usually a must-do event for politicians and Trudeau hasn’t missed a summer except for the COVID-19 years of 2020 and 2021.
But his office confirms there will be no pancake flipping, cowboy-hat tipping or crowd-hopping for the prime minister this year.
There was no immediate explanation provided for his absence.
The Stampede officially begins Friday with a parade and runs until July 14.
Trudeau’s office signalled he wasn’t going to attend in 2017, but after a gaffe — when he accidentally forgot to include Alberta in a list of provinces during his Canada Day speech — he showed up at the Stampede two weeks later.
Trudeau is currently dealing with the fallout from the stunning Liberal loss of a long-held Toronto seat in a byelection on June 24.
His party’s slump in the polls has lasted more than a year and his MPs are up in arms about how to stage a comeback before the next election.
