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Dozens of young women here for Daughters of the Vote turn their backs as Trudeau speaks -in solidarity with Ms Wilson-Raybould and Ms Philpott pic.twitter.com/aAhdlDHrcS — Peter Julian (@MPJulian) April 3, 2019

The two sat with Celina Caesar-Chavannes, who quit the Liberal caucus in the wake of reporting on SNC-Lavalin. She snapped her fingers sometimes in agreement with the young women’s pronouncements. All three gave standing ovations for statements on issues including climate change, Indigenous suicide, accessibility and religious freedom, along with the rest of the room, which brimmed with loud enthusiasm for each speaker.

Ducking out to speak with reporters, neither Wilson-Raybould nor Philpott would address the elephant in the room — that here were young women being encouraged to speak up when Wilson-Raybould’s whistle-blowing is what ultimately led to their excommunication from caucus. Caesar-Chavannes told the National Post “we needed that little boost today,” though. “We are in the gallery watching, having, we hope, made a mark on the 42nd Parliament. And here are young women in those seats saying, ‘yeah, we are going to continue this,’” she said.

When he finally arrived, Trudeau, the self-proclaimed feminist and “minister of youth,” would face more than one rebuke from the young women in front of him. And he was not alone — dozens of them walked out on Conservative Leader Andrew Scheer while he spoke, because of a distaste for his policies. Upon their return, the women, including a majority of those who wore a hijab, got as much applause as Scheer had for his short speech.

Photo by THE CANADIAN PRESS/Adrian Wyld

During a question-and-answer session with Trudeau, Indigenous Nova Scotia delegate Hannah Martin, facing him, declared the Liberal government was perpetrating violence with its inaction on Indigenous issues. “You cannot be a feminist if you are allowing corporations to rape the land, because as Indigenous peoples, that is our mother,” she said. He thanked her for her “strong voice.”