Trudeau spends Saturday in Edmonton, stops to celebrate Pride

Justin Trudeau and his daughter Ella-Grace (right) stopped at the Edmonton Pride Festival on Saturday to show their support for the LGBTQ2S+ community. (Dave Mitchell/CTV News Edmonton)

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau spent Saturday in the Alberta capital. 

Trudeau attended several events in Edmonton, including a pit-stop at the Edmonton Pride Festival.

The prime minister was in the city to meet with Northwest Territories Premier Caroline Cochrane to discuss future federal support for the territory, including infrastructure and preparing the north for a changing climate.

That meeting was closed to the public. However, Trudeau and Cochrane spoke briefly to the press beforehand, both thanking Albertans for their help during the current and ongoing wildfire crisis up north.

"In politics you often hear only the bad things, people always complaining and sometimes you feel like you're battling an uphill battle," Cochrane said. "But driving down here and [seeing] the generosity of the provincial government – but more so the generosity of the people, of Albertans, that were out along the way handing out water, giving out gift cards, opening their homes – was incredible, and it regained my faith in society.

"It made me realize that Canadians do care, that Canadians do help each other in times of need."

The meeting in Edmonton comes a day after Cochrane expressed anger with the federal government for its failure to act on infrastructure commitments in the N.W.T., saying the territories "live like third-world countries."

Mayor Amarjeet Sohi also met with Trudeau Saturday, but that meeting was closed to the public as well and no details were offered on what the pair were to discuss.

PRIDE APPEARANCE

The prime minister also stopped by Churchill Square to show his support for the LGBTQ2S+ community.

Trudeau shared the stage with local politicians at the final day of the 2023 Edmonton Pride Festival alongside his daughter Ella-Grace. 

"I wanted her to see just how extraordinary, vibrant, exciting, hospitable and wonderful Edmonton and Alberta really is," he told the crowd.

In his speech, Trudeau expressed frustration against the increasing frequency of homophobic, transphobic or LGBTQ2S+ hate-related incidents in Canada.

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"Increasingly we're seeing people weaponizing intolerance for political gain," he said. "Shame.

"In Canada, we stand up for each other's rights. We stand up for everybody's freedoms. And there is no freedom more fundamental than the freedom to be who you are and love whom you love."

Afterwards, Trudeau spent some time meeting festival-goers and snapping selfies with people in the crowd.

The 2023 Edmonton Pride Festival wraps up 11 p.m. in Churchill Square.

With files from CTV News' Spencer Van Dyk