TRUDEAU SLAMS DISCONNECTED CONSERVATIVES

 In his most sharply partisan speech in months, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Liberal policy convention delegates Saturday they must redouble their efforts to secure victory at the polls to prevent the "disconnected" Conservatives from governing.

In a 20-minute virtual address to thousands of party members, Trudeau said Conservative Leader Erin O'Toole "can't quite grasp" the struggles that Canadians have endured over the last year during COVID-19. He suggested the Tories would have been less generous with relief programs and unreliable pandemic stewards had they been in power.

While most pandemic programs unanimously passed the House of Commons, Trudeau claimed O'Toole would have cut the Canada emergency relief benefit (CERB) — "a lifeline for millions of people during the worst economic crisis in a century." He also accused the Conservatives of thinking young people are "lazy" and argued they would have left students in the lurch during the pandemic.