This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

The Canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, has apologised for making a “dumb joke” after he interrupted a woman and lightheartedly corrected her for saying “mankind”, not “peoplekind”.



His comments last week drew ridicule from critics who variously accused Trudeau of mansplaining and excessive political correctness.

“You all know that I don’t necessarily have the best of track records on jokes. I made a dumb joke a few days ago that seems to have gone a little viral,” he said on Wednesday.

Justin Trudeau tells woman to say 'peoplekind' not 'mankind' Read more

“It played well in the room and in context. Out of context it doesn’t play so well and it’s a little reminder to me that I shouldn’t be making jokes even when I think they’re funny.”

His original comment came during a town hall meeting in Edmonton on Friday, at the conclusion of a longwinded question from an audience member.

The questioner ended by asking Trudeau to look at laws surrounding the charitable status of religious organisations, saying: “Maternal love is the love that’s going to change the future of mankind”.



To which Trudeau replied “We like to say ‘peoplekind’, not necessarily ‘mankind’, because it’s more inclusive.”

His comments drew ridicule from members of the conservative media who have seized on them to accuse him of “virtue signalling”.

However, some have suggested that the furore was manufactured in bad faith.

Daniel Dale, Washington correspondent for the Toronto Star, said that the “pile-on” was misleading as Trudeau was “lightly ribbing a woman who was rambling about the power of women” and accused it of omitting important context.

Daniel Dale (@ddale8) The US-right-wing pile-on re Trudeau's "peoplekind" is pretty misleading.



He was lightly ribbing a woman who was rambling about the power of women, "God the Mother," and how the world needs womanly love. Fox excluded her response to him: "There you go, exactly. Yes. Thank you." pic.twitter.com/Wl4QIumWrA

Political opponents and commentators have in the past complained that Trudeau lacks the gravitas needed to be a national leader.

In his first public remarks after a devastating wildfire ripped through an Albertan oil-producing region in 2016, he began with a quip about the Star Wars movie franchise.

In October 2014, when he was still in opposition, Trudeau criticised the then Conservative government for joining the coalition against Islamic State. He said humanitarian aid was better than “trying to whip out our [fighter jets] and show them how big they are”.