The Canadian Press
EDMONTON–Manuel Goncalves has a message for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau: my Canada includes Alberta, even if your speech didn’t.
Trudeau touched off a Twitter firestorm Saturday during his Canada Day speech on Parliament Hill, when he left Alberta out of his coast-to-coast recitation of the provinces and territories.
“We may live in British Columbia, Yukon, the Northwest Territories, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nunavut, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, or Newfoundland and Labrador,” Trudeau had said.
“But we embrace that diversity while knowing in our hearts that we are all Canadians, and that we share a common pride in that red-and-white flag.”
It wasn’t until after he had left the stage that Trudeau noticed the oversight, aided no doubt by a check of his Twitter feed and host Sandra Oh giving the province a shout-out.
Trudeau jumped on the front of the stage, called out, “I love you, Alberta,” and blew a kiss before sitting down and shaking his head.
“Maybe he should remember where the big money comes from for the economy. It’s the province of Alberta,” noted Goncalves, who was among several thousand Albertans gathered for Canada Day at the provincial legislature in Edmonton.
Moments after the mistake, Trudeau tweeted: “Got too excited somewhere over the Rockies. Sorry, Alberta.”
Yolanda Saunders, who was with her two daughters as they waded in the reflecting pool in front of the legislature, shrugged off the gaffe.
“I think it was just an ‘Oops,'” she said.
But it was a political mistake–one Trudeau likely will be hearing about for a while, especially given the fact that Alberta is home to some of his most powerful rivals in the House of Commons.
Most of the people at the legislature were in a forgiving mood, chalking up the oversight to an honest mistake.
Stephanie Lawrence, a dual Australian-Canadian who was in Edmonton visiting family, suggested the prime minister ought not to make such mistakes, and that Trudeau needs to “pick up the slack.”
“I could understand if he was from the U.S. but Canada doesn’t have that many provinces,” she reasoned.
“It’s not like you have to list 50 of them.”
