A video of a steelworker confronting Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a meet-and-greet event with workers at Algoma Steel Inc. facility in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., went viral online late last month. While the interaction was widely covered by reporters, some social media users accused the steelworker of being one of two employees of a media company known to have done work for Conservative Party Leader Pierre Poilievre. This is false. While the Algoma steelworker has not been identified publicly, the men accused of being a possible Conservative "plant" bear little resemblance to the man in the video, and one of the two men says they were not the person who challenged Trudeau at the event.
A Sept. 1 , formerly known as Twitter, claimed the man who challenged Trudeau is James Oakley, who works with Mobilize Media,a social media influence and marketing company that worked for Pierre Poilievre's Conservative leadership campaign, . The post, however, shared a photo of Jeff Ballingall, the founder of Mobilize Media.
"The irate employee in the video refusing a donut from (Prime Minister Justin Trudeau) and trash talking to him is James Oakley, leader of Mobilize Media, story tellers who try to influence public opinion and rally change." The post read. "Connect the dots, folks, he was a plant."
The post has more than 645,000 views as of Sept. 11.
The claim spread widely on X and also appeared on , which included an image of Oakley, and .
Rating: False
The viral social media video of the Trudeau meeting was originally , and photos by a ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Press photographer also appeared in the news article.
The man in the video is wearing a red, long-sleeved T-shirt with the words "Local 2251 Steelworkers" on the back and has a lanyard with what appears to be ID attached. The man is white with dark hair and short beard.
The photos shared of Ballingall and Oakley were taken from the about section of website. Both men look different from the steelworker who confronted Trudeau at the event at Algoma Steel facility on Aug. 30. Ballingall's hair and eye colour appear to be different, and Oakley's hairline, eyes and nose don't match the man in the video.
Mobilize Media founder Ballingall confirmed in an email to ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø thatneither he nor his company's creative lead, Oakley, were the person who challenged Trudeau.
According to their LinkedIn profiles,the two men have no experience with steel work and never worked for Algoma Steel.
Before starting Mobilize Media Group, worked in digital public affairs and politics, with Navigator Ltd., Sun Media, Toronto city councillor John Parker and on Parliament Hill for the Conservative Resource Group. He is also the founder of the Canada Proud and Ontario Proud, two social media platforms that publish anti-Liberal content.
Oakley's says he went to school at the University of Liverpool in Liverpool, England, and his work history shows a handful of content and media production roles, including as head of media production with conservative news outlet the Post Millennial from March 2019 to September 2021. An of the Post Millennial website's about section from November 2020 lists a "J.E. Oakley" as the head of visual media and says, "Originally from the UK, James has moved to Montreal from Shanghai."
Reporter observed exchange
A ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Press reporter was also present at the event that took place at the Algoma Steel facility and did not observe any unusual behaviour by the man who confronted Trudeau.
Trudeau arrived at Algoma Steel in Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., just after 2 p.m. on Aug. 30 with local MP Terry Sheehan. Algoma Steel's vice-president strategy and chief legal officer John Naccarato, chief financial officer Rajat Marwah and vice-president of strategic transformation Mark Nogalo were among the first group of employees who greeted Trudeau just behind the facility's entrance.
Trudeau walked a few steps inside that area where he shook hands with a group of employees and said his government is working hard to support steelworkers in Canada, and that it has recently imposed tariffs on Chinese steel imports to protect ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø jobs.
Trudeau later walked up to a group of employees standing in the back, which is what the video shows, and one employee refused to shake hands with him.
After a few tense exchanges, including the employee challenging Trudeau on the high cost of living and dental care, the worker walked away refusing to shake Trudeau’s hand for a second time.
Trudeau walked back to the group of employees he was chatting with first and the pool reporter was then asked to leave the area.
The man who challenged Trudeau was unidentified in the video and news articles and to attempts from local news site Soo Today to seek further comment.
Algoma Steel Inc. and United Steelworkers Union Local 2251 did not respond to requests from ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø to confirm the man's employment and union membership.
Sources
Claim can be found on X (), Threads () and Facebook ()
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