Fresh off surviving a confidence vote on a Conservative motion to look into the government’s ethics and pandemic spending, a relaxed-looking Justin Trudeau held a virtual town hall at Memorial University in St. John’s.
For a little over an hour, the prime minister answered 15 questions from staff and students — including one from the university’s newly hired sustainability and climate action officer that had very little to do with the environment.
Justin Dearing used his few minutes with Trudeau to ask about something that has had a campus-wide impact at Memorial: the fate of Jordan Naterer, a hiker who disappeared in British Columbia.
“I was preparing a question about climate change when a thought hit me that I couldn’t shake and I had to go with my gut,” Dearing said.
Earlier this week, Engineering Dean Greg Naterer and his wife left St. John’s for B.C. to continue the search for their missing son.
Jordan Naterer, 25, is believed to have left Vancouver to go hiking at Manning Provincial Park over the Thanksgiving weekend but never re-emerged.
Vancouver police called off the search on Saturday, but Jordan’s family has been pleading to keep looking.
Wednesday night, Dearing asked the prime minister for help.
“With deep compassion and humility, may I ask, is there any way you or your staff might be able to encourage additional support in the search for Jordan?” Dearing said.
