Trudeau distances himself from Donald Trump in 60 Minutes profile
Being open and respectful better than 'big walls and oppressive policies', says prime minister
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau appeared on the CBS show 60 Minutes Sunday, where he defended Canada's Syrian refugee resettlement program, contrasted his policy with Donald Trump's and denied an increased risk of a terrorist attack.
Trudeau contrasted his plan for Syrian refugees with that of Donald Trump, the front-runner in the Republican presidential nomination race.
"Ultimately being open and respectful towards each other is a much more powerful way to diffuse hatred and anger than ... big walls and oppressive policies," Trudeau said.
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Host Lara Logan also asked Trudeau what Canadians do not like about the U.S.
He replied that Americans should pay more attention to the world, a comment that prompted Conservative MP Jason Kenney to go on social media and call the remark "regrettably smug."
He also defended his move to pull back CF-18 jets fighting ISIS in Iraq and Syria.
"There's a lot of countries that do very well dropping bombs. There are other things that Canada actually does better than most other countries. And one of them is training people on the ground," Trudeau said, adding Canada will triple the number of military trainers working with the Kurdish Peshmerga.
Episode to air days before Obama state dinner
The last time a Canadian politician was featured on the Sunday night program, which regularly attracts in excess of 15 million viewers, was in 2003, when then-Deputy Prime Minister John Manley was featured in a segment called "North of the Border" documenting Islamic terrorist groups operating in Canada.
The Trudeau interview aired just days before he visits Washington, D.C., for a state dinner with U.S. President Barack Obama on March 10.
The state dinner will be the first of its kind between the two countries in nearly 20 years.
Trudeau's 60 Minutes debut follows extensive coverage of the prime minister in American news media.
Since his Oct. 19 victory, Trudeau has been profiled in Vanity Fair and Vogue magazines and in the New York Times, among other U.S. publications.
Watch the 60 Minutes interview below.
With files from CBC's John Paul Tasker and The Associated Press