According to the renowned scientist, broadcaster and activist, Trudeau called him personally on June 28, 2015 to talk about the Liberal platform on climate change to be revealed the next day. “I didn’t call Justin, he called me,” Suzuki said. “He wanted an endorsement and he wanted to tell me exactly what his program was.”

The program includes support for the Keystone XL pipleline, a rejection of the Northern Gateway pipeline and working with the provinces to establish a cap and trade system.

“I said, ‘Justin, stop it, you’re just being political, you just want to make headway in Alberta,’” Suzuki says he told Trudeau. “You’re for the development of the tar sands, you’re for the Keystone pipeline, but you’re against the Northern Gateway, you’re all over the damn map!”

Suzuki went on to tell Trudeau that he believes that taking the target of a 2 degree rise in temperature seriously means 80% of the oil sands has to stay in the ground. Suzuki believes stopping oil sands development will mean “no debate about pipelines or expanding railways or shipping stuff offshore — none of that comes into it.”

At that point Suzuki says the conversation devolved into a nasty exchange. “He said, ‘I don’t have to listen to this sanctimonious crap. I proceeded to call him a twerp.”