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| - FACT CHECK: Viral X Video Claims Pierre Poilievre Did Not Answer Questions About India At Recent Press Conference
A viral video shared on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter, claims Canadian Member of Parliament and leader of the country’s Official Opposition Party Pierre Poilievre purportedly did not answer questions about India during a recent press conference.
Poilievre sure made a quick exit stage left at the mention of India. pic.twitter.com/Kg0NvmkToJ
— Amsterdam Blonde (@1StarAtaTyme) September 19, 2023
Verdict: False
A spokesperson for the Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition denied the claim in an email to Check Your Fact.
Fact Check:
Canadian Sikh leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar was shot and killed in Vancouver in June 2023, according to BBC News. While India denied having any involvement in Singh Nijjar’s death, the country purportedly had labeled him a “terrorist,” the outlet reported.
In the viral X video, viewed over 120,000 times, Poilievre appears to walk offstage during a press conference when asked a question about India. “Poilievre sure made a quick exit stage left at the mention of India,” the X video’s caption purports.
The claim is false, as the original clip shows that Poilievre did discuss India during the 12-minute press conference. The video opens with Poilievre speaking in French. At the eight-minute, forty-six-second timestamp, Poilievre takes a question from a reporter who asks him if Canada needs to change its relationship with India following the country’s alleged ties to the murder of Singh Nijjar.
“Prime Minister [Justin Trudeau] needs to come clean with all the facts and know all the evidence possible so the Canadians can make judgments,” Poilievre responded. The Canadian Member of Parliament also responded to other questions about India following the first one.
Likewise, Check Your Fact found no credible news reports suggesting Poilievre walked offstage when asked a question about India during the recent press conference. Poilievre also has not publicly commented on the claim. (RELATED: No, Ukraine Did Not Ask Canada To Send 30,000 Military Age Men To Fight Russia)
A spokesperson for the Office of the Leader of the Official Opposition denied the claim in an email to Check Your Fact.
“An expanded video publicly available on the CPAC website shows that previous to this, five questions related to India were asked at the following moments in the video: 08:50, 9:10, 9:30, 9:43, 9:58,” the spokesperson said.
“The last question was called by staff three times before Leader of the Opposition Pierre Poilievre leaves the mic. In fact, Mr. Poilievre stayed to answer the media’s questions for 2 minutes after the first announcement of last question is made.”
“The last question is called at 10:10, 10:31, and then once again before the India question is posed. The Leader can be seen looking to staff as they call last question for the final time,” the spokesperson added.
In addition to refuting the claim, the spokesperson directed Check Your Fact to the full video of Poilievre answering questions during the press conference via the CPAC website.
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