Local steelworker who wouldn't shake PM's hand says it wasn't 'for attention'

A newspaper columnist has put a name to the steelworker who refused a handshake from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a scheduled photo op in Sault Ste. Marie.

In a front-page story in the Sunday edition of The Toronto Sun — under the headline 'Man of Steel' — columnist Joe Warmington interviewed Kyle Mero, the USW Local 2251 steelworker who had a tense but mostly respectful conversation with Trudeau just inside Algoma Steel's Number 2 gate on Aug. 30.

Mero told Warmington he was not aware Trudeau would be at Algoma Steel when he came to work that day, but took the opportunity to share his thoughts with the PM. He said Trudeau's condescension set him off.

“I didn’t do this to try to get attention," Mero told the newspaper. "I did this because I felt I had to say something, just to get it off my chest. Just seeing the state of the country and the path we are on is not sitting well with me."

Mero told Warmington he didn't mean any disrespect by declining to shake the prime minister's hand, but did so to avoid being "roped into" a staged photo op.

At the time of the original encounter, SooToday reported that the steelworker gave Trudeau an earful while refusing a donut and a handshake from the PM before he made his way to start his shift.

When Trudeau asked Mero if he knew anyone who had received care via the federal dental program, he responded that he pays out of pocket.

“Every time we go for a dental visit, it costs me about $50 out of pocket, per person. Why? I have a good job," he said. Mero went on to mention one of his neighbours "who doesn’t go to work because she’s lazy. She just doesn’t go to work.”

Mero told Warmington that neighbour has since called him an a--hole for his remarks about her. But at the same time, he said many people in the Sault have congratulated him for speaking his mind.

“For a week after, every time I went out, people were realizing it was me," he told The Sun. "They were very good. Everything was positive locally in Sault Ste. Marie. Tons of people wanted to send me cases of beer.”

Mero declined an interview request when contacted Sunday by SooToday. "I have no further comments at this time," he wrote.

Trudeau was in the Sault on Aug. 29 and 30 for a series of photo ops, as well as for a Liberal fundraiser held at the Canadian Bushplane Heritage Centre.