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Vic Toews' Child Porn Attack Was Aimed At Trudeau?

Toews' Child Porn Attack Was Aimed At Trudeau?
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Vic Toews' infamous assertion that those who opposed the government's online spying legislation stood with child pornographers may have been obliquely aimed at Justin Trudeau, according to the Liberal leadership front-runner's chief adviser.

In the new eBook Contender: The Justin Trudeau Story by HuffPost Canada's Althia Raj, Trudeau's friend and campaign mastermind Gerald Butts suggests Toews may have had Trudeau's one-time roommate Christopher Ingvaldson, who was charged with accessing and possessing images of child pornography in 2010, in mind when he made the argument.

"They were probably thinking about that," Butts told Raj.

Trudeau cut off contact when the charges were laid. Ingvaldson pleaded guilty in January of this year and was sentenced to three months in jail with two years' probation.

If the Tories were, or are, considering Trudeau's connection to Ingvaldson as an avenue of attack, it seems his campaign likely already has a response.

Butts told Raj the Trudeau team is ready to respond within 72 hours to any possible attack and said asking if they're ready for the Tories to go negative is "like asking on launch day if we have a speech."

Flanagan, who was once one of Stephen Harper's closest advisers, said he had "grave doubts" about incarcerating viewers of child pornography because they do "not harm another person." The comments prompted public outcry and condemnation from Harper's office. Flanagan apologized soon after.

The fact Flanagan was at the helm of the Conservatives' 2004 campaign when the party accused then-prime minister Paul Martin of being soft on child pornographers could easily be spun into a counter attack ad.

What seems more likely is that the Conservative and Liberal camps will both avoid the subject if Trudeau does win the leadership. Toews and Flanagan have both proven that arguments around child pornography have a nasty habit of backfiring.

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