Since the 23rd Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, assumed office in November, 2015, he has steadily gone on to become one of the best-loved politicians the world over. From 19 reasons to love Trudeau, which include his propensity to dance the Bhangra, his yoga skills, his greeting of Syrian refugees at the airport, his general willingness to do straight talk, and his progressive stand on almost everything from legalising marijuana to a gender-balanced cabinet.
But a chink in his "nice guy" armour seemed to appear in the form of an incident that took place in Canada's House of Commons earlier this in the week. Despite apologising three times for the incident, accusations of "manhandling" are still haunting Trudeau.
Not willing to wait any longer for a vote to get underway, in the video below, the Prime Minister can be seen marching across the House, grabbing conservative MP Gord Brown and forcibly taking him to his chair. In the confusion, Trudeau "accidentally" elbowed New Democratic Party (NDP) MP Ruth-Ellen Brosseau. The vote was a controversial one put forth by the Liberal Party to reduce discussion on assisted suicide.
"I made a mistake. I regret it and I'm looking to make amends. I expect better behaviour of myself," Trudeau said by way of apology.
This isn't the first instance of Trudeau losing his cool in parliament. In 2011 he was forced to apologise after swearing at Conservative MP Peter Kent.
But the video above doesn't seem to tell the whole story.
In the above analysis, the creator points out that the NDP members can be clearly seen blocking Gord Brown from resuming his seat and letting the vote proceed. Although the video isn't very clear, in one freeze frame, Brousseau can be seen smiling as she continues to block Brown's passage.
When Trudeau breaks through the crowd of MPs, instead of moving away, Brousseau seems to move towards him and for a brief second, once again appears to smile and the impact of the Prime Minister's blow doesn't seem to be too severe, before Brousseau begins to wince.
So, was it a set-up?
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