A day after an at-times heated debate on the economy, Tom Mulcair and Justin Trudeau were criticizing Stephen Harper for his use of the phrase āold stock Canadiansā during an exchange on refugee policy.
During a major party leadersā debate on the economy Thursday night, Harper came under fire on social media when he responded to a suggestion that Conservative policy strips refugees of some health care benefits.
Harper defended his party saying, āWe do not offer them a better health plan than the ordinary Canadian can receive. Thatās something new and existing and old stock Canadians agree with.ā
At a campaign appearance in Calgary Friday morning, a reporter asked Harper what he meant by the phrase.
After reiterating his partyās stance on health care for refugees, Harper said, āItās supported by Canadians who are themselves immigrants, and also supported by the rest of us ā by Canadians who have been the descendants of immigrants for one or more generations.ā
The claws quickly came out on social media when Harper initially made the remark, with many expressing displeasure ā and confusion -- with the Conservative leaderās apparent categorization of Canadian citizens.
I don't know if I'm old stock or not. I'm white but my parents immigrated from Scotland in 1957.
ā Monica Rooney (@monicarooney)
Harper has binders full of .
ā Lwam Ghebrehariat (@LwamG)
Who had the worst night at the ?... Old Stock Prime Ministers.
ā Wilfrid Laurier (@PMLaurier)
On Friday, Justin Trudeauās campaign team said the Liberal leader didnāt respond to the āold stockā remark during the debate because he didnāt hear it.
But at a rally in Montreal Friday afternoon, Trudeau said the comment showed that Harper was āeager to use the politics of divisionā during the election campaign.
āThe fact is, Mr. Harper is yet again highlighting that he doesnāt believe that a Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian,ā Trudeau said.
Mulcair also weighed in on the matter at a campaign stop in Regina Friday afternoon, saying Harper used āvery divisiveā language.
āI think weāre all Canadians and I donāt like dividing people into categories like that,ā Mulcair said.
Social media takes notice
Twitter activity spiked Thursday night following Harperās comments:
Post-debate, Google Canada also reported an increase in searches for āOld Stock Canadians.ā
'Old Stock Canadians' takes on a life of its own in post- searches.
ā Google Canada (@googlecanada)
