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Trudeau has zeroed in on the plight of the middle class since taking the helm of his party last April. He has vowed that measures to improve the lot of middle-class Canadians will be the cornerstone of the eventual Liberal platform for next year’s election.

Asked Thursday how he reconciles his depiction of the middle class with the Statistics Canada study, Trudeau said he’s looking at data over the longer term, since 1981, and they show “very, very troubling trend lines.”

“The reality is that anyone who has spent any time actually talking to Canadians and listening to them knows that people are really, really worried,” he told a questioner following a breakfast speech hosted by the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce and Ottawa Business Journal.

“Canadians are worried that, you know what, for the first time, they’re not going to be offering to their kids greater opportunities than they had.”

Trudeau said Canada “must be a place where upward mobility and equality of opportunity is there for everyone” and added: “I do believe, unlike some others, that the federal government does have a leadership role to play in making that happen.”

During his speech, Trudeau didn’t mention the Statistics Canada study but he did reference the report prepared by officials in Kenney’s department and obtained by The Canadian Press under the Access to Information Act.

That report said middle-income earners saw their wages stagnate and debts mount between 1993 and 2007 and concluded they’re unlikely to move into higher income brackets.