Trudeau, steel plant worker have heated exchange during Sault Ste. Marie visit

After meeting with transit workers and the local mayor on Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continued his visit to Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., where he canoed down St. Marys River and hosted a meet and greet at a local steel plant.

After meeting with transit workers and local Mayor Matthew Shoemaker on Thursday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau continued his visit to Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., on Friday.

Trudeau took a canoe trip down the Saint Marys River with Brad Robinson, the co-owner and CEO of Indigenous-led Thrive Tours.

The prime minister was accompanied downriver by the Sault MP Terry Sheehan, the other co-owner of the tour company that provided the canoes, Amanda Cora, Batchewana First Nation Chief Mark McCoy and former chief Dean Sayers.

Speaking with CTV News on Friday following the excursion, Sheehan said he and Trudeau discussed how the region needs to work together towards Truth and Reconciliation with the local Indigenous leader while on the water.

Sheehan described the discussion on the St. Marys River – a traditional transportation route of the area's First Nation population – as “tremendously important.”