HALIFAX – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau faced difficult questions from the crowd at a town hall in the Halifax area tonight, including from a member of the navy who has ALS and from the mother of a boy with severe autism.
A man with ALS who identified himself as the father of two young children and a member of the navy asked Trudeau why he doesn’t have the right to try experimental drugs to fight his terminal illness.
Trudeau noted during the question-and-answer session a school gym in a the Halifax suburb of Lower Sackville that the process of approving such drugs needs to be rigorous and based on science.
Carly Sutherland, whose nine-year-old son Callum has severe autism and suffers from violently aggressive fits, asked the prime minister to commit to national autism strategy.
Trudeau acknowledged that she’s not alone in her struggles, but avoided answering her question about a national autism strategy.
A health-care worker also expressed his concern with the minimum age to buy recreational marijuana being set at 18, and Trudeau reassured that Ottawa’s plan will keep cannabis out of the hands of young people.