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Justin Trudeau: Harper 'Using Terrorism For Political Gain'

Trudeau asked about the Tory ads attacking the Liberals, some of which feature ISIS propaganda videos

Justin Trudeau says he will let Prime Minister Stephen Harper "continue to make the mistakes he's making by underestimating Canadians" and accused him of "using terrorism for political gain."

The Liberal leader made the comments in an interview Friday. Global Calgary's Amber Schinkel asked Trudeau whether he was concerned about Conservative attack ads — some featuring ISIS propaganda — that have targeted him and his party.

"First of all, I'm going to let my opponents focus on me, I'm going to stay focused on doing right by Canadians, and I trust Canadians," he said.

Trudeau told Global he would not lob attack ads at opponents, and that he knows voters "don't want to be stuck voting against what they don't like."

"This is not us, this is not Canada," he said. "We want to have a compelling, positive vision, and that's what I'm focused on."

Trudeau did make a point of criticizing Harper's environmental record. He said the prime minister has for 10 years tried to propose that there's a "choice to be made between either the environment or the economy, that you can't have both."

He explained his party would find that balance, but he did not rule out oilsands developments or more pipelines. "You need to build a strong, growing economy while protecting the environment and thinking about future generations," he told Schinkel.

The prime minister also took some time Friday to speak to the media. Harper spoke with CTV Calgary's Tara Nelson, who asked him if it feels different heading into the federal election with an NDP government in Alberta.

Harper said he didn't know, but added that he thinks the bigger change in the past year was the drop in oil prices.

"It'll be a tough year but it'll bounce back and I've got a lot of confidence in the long-term future of the industry and the city," he said.

Nelson also asked Harper whether he'd ever want to be the Stampede's parade marshal.

"I think to be a parade marshal you have to ride a horse, don't you? I'm not a very good horse rider," he joked. "I think there would be many security concerns about that, just the horse and me alone."

Watch the interview below:

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