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Politics

What you missed at Justin Trudeau's town hall

From civil liberties to socks, here are the highlights from Maclean's town hall with the prime minister.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took questions from Canadians on everything from civil liberties to selfies at Maclean's Town Hall on Wednesday. Questions came from the audience and social media, in addition to journalists from ChatelaineMaclean's and L’Actualité.

Don't have an hour to spare to watch the replay above? Here are the highlights.

On his selfies, media appearances and "charm offensive”:

“It’s not about image; it’s about substance. And that’s what so many of my political opponents haven’t understood. If you want to serve Canadians well with the kinds of things that they want to see — for themselves, for their families, for the future — you have to listen to them...And that’s talking to a broad range of publications in a lot of different ways where we can actually connect with people who might not get a lot of politics in their daily reading of the news.”

On Star Wars: The Force Awakens:

“It is as good as I hoped it was.... Like for everyone of my generation — or everyone I knew of my generation, maybe I just hung out with geeks — it was a life-changing movie. And I am very confident that this new iteration of it is going to make everybody very, very happy.”

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On Donald Trump:

"I think it’s extremely important that someone in my position doesn't engage in the electoral processes of another country.... However, I don't think it comes as a surprise to anyone that I stand firmly against the politics of division, the politics of fear, the politics of intolerance or hateful rhetoric."

On the Muslim community:

"They are the greatest victims of terrorist acts around the world at the present time and painting ISIS and others with a broad brush that extends to all Muslims, it’s not just ignorant it’s irresponsible."

On using soft power in international negotiations:

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"It's a mistake to equate understanding soft power with weakness."

On the balance between security and civil liberties:

“There shouldn't be a contradiction between what it takes to keep us safe and what it takes to keep us Canadians. A responsible government should make sure that when you’re giving more power to police or security agencies in order to keep people safe that at the same time you bring in more oversight."

On his shoes:

“I do like my socks but I give no thought to my shoes. I have black shoes, I have brown shoes, and I wear them until they wear out and I get a new pair. I really don’t spend as much time thinking about it as apparently the Internet does."

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