About 1,000 people packed a town hall event in Kamloops last night tossing questions at the Prime Minister producing moments that were silly and some that were tense.

The very first question and answer of the event was far from serious.

“What is your favourite part about your day?”

Justin Trudeau responded “it really depends on the day” to laughter but later expanded it is when is four year old son runs in, in the morning to snuggle in bed.

But Trudeau soon found himself being taken to task by angry First Nations peoples expressing anger and frustration over land claims and the indigenous pipeline protest camp in northern B.C.

“You are afraid to lose everything. You benefit from our oppression and our suffering,” a woman named Tilly yelled.

Trudeau replied. “No I am not. I am ready to walk in partnership with you and building the future and that is what we’ve been doing,” before adding “I hear you. I understand the anger and the passion that you have about protecting your land.”

Tilly continued “I don’t want to hear you apologizing. I don’t want to hear you saying sorry. I want you to start making better choices on behalf of everybody on this land.”

Trudeau responded “I have listened to what you said. I respectively submit that perhaps you haven’t been listening to what I am saying.”

Another woman also began yelling “the RCMP are not respecting Unist’ot’en” referring to the pipeline protest camp confrontation in northern B.C.

Trudeau replied “that is not true. They have actually just removed the barricade.”

“The federal government is not the one that should be deciding who speaks for which indigenous community. Our responsibility is to support communities as they develop models that make sense. That is what we are in the middle of right now. It is obvious we cannot simply move forward like we did a 100 years ago and slap down a railroad and say this is where we are going. We need to now consult and work together. I think we are better off that we are doing that.”

The Prime Minister would face several more of these confrontations with angry First Nations peoples throughout the town hall.

In each case he reiterated the long history of wrongs visited upon aboriginal peoples and pledged his government is working with them to empower First Nations and walk beside them in reconciliation.

And in each case he listened to the person before asking them to respect the forum and the other people asking questions.

Another uncomfortable moment came when a man asked Justin Trudeau if 13 year old Marrisa Shen would be alive today if Canada hadn’t opened its arms to Syrian refugees.

Syrian refugee Ibrahim Ali has been charged in her death in Burnaby.

“The generalizations and the danger that we get into in tying things like immigration policies to incidents like this is something that I don’t entirely know is helpful or useful in a diverse, pluralistic, inclusive society like ours.”

Another line of questioning fielded by the Prime Minister centered around U.S. President Donald Trump.

One man gave Trudeau what he called “relationship advice.”

“From all of us just push him off a cliff we are good. I will buy you a beer.”

Trudeau responded by saying “I wasn’t expecting a threat of violence against our closest ally.”

Another questioner asked the Prime Minister about Trump’s comments claiming high Canadian lumber prices somehow factored into the deadly wildfires that plagued California last year.

“I try not to weigh in on various things he says as a matter of course. As to any links between fallen logs and brush fires I will defer to experts and scientists on that.”

Trudeau says Canadians expect him to maintain a constructive relationship with the United States but also stand up for Canada on things like the softwood lumber trade dispute.