Justin Trudeau took the knee 3 times at an anti-racism protest, but he's being called on to do more to address Canada's racism and indigenous deaths

• Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau kneeled three times during an anti-racism protest in Canada on Friday, in solidarity with those protesting police violence.
• Trudeau, wearing a mask, turned up at the protest, part of worldwide response sparked by the death of unarmed black man George Floyd in US police custody.
• The global protests condemn US police brutality while also highlighting racism in each country, and Trudeau is under pressure to address racial and police violence in Canada.
• Trudeau attended the protest the day after an indigenous woman was shot dead by police. He said police discrimination "needs to end" but did not directly answer questions about policy changes.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau kneeled during an anti-racism protest in Canada as the protests sparked by the death of George Floyd in the US. But there are growing calls for him to do more to address racism in Canada.

Trudeau kneeled three times alongside anti-racism protesters near Canada's parliament in Ottawa on Friday, as part of protests that have taken place in cities across the country over the previous week.

One of those times was during a nine-minute silence to represent the almost nine minutes that a white Minneapolis police officer knelt on Floyd's neck for before he died. Floyd pleaded that he could not breathe before his death.

Trudeau did not speak at the protests, and wore a black mask as the coronavirus pandemic continues.

While Trudeau appears to have been the first world leader to kneel during such protests, other world leaders have come out in support of the Black Lives Matter movement and say they condemn racism.

The protests spread across the US after Floyd's death, with major demonstrations taking place in every state. They have been replicated in countries around the world.

People in Canada are calling on Trudeau both to address the situation in the US and to do more to address inequality in Canada.

A group of people at the protest chanted "Stand up to Trump" at him, Bloomberg reported.

The protest also came after police killed Chantel Moore, an indigenous woman, during a wellness check-in eastern Canada on Thursday.

A separate video also appeared to show police intentionally driving into an indigenous man.

Trudeau said on Friday, after these incidents but before the protest, that "far too many Canadians feel fear and anxiety at the sight of a law enforcement officer."

"Over the past weeks we've seen a large number of Canadians suddenly awaken to the fact that discrimination is a lived reality for far too many of our fellow citizens," he said, Reuters reported.

He said that police discrimination against indigenous people and people of color "needs to end."

But The Guardian reported that Trudeau did not directly answer reporters' questions about specific government policy changes or whether he felt Canadian police were racist.

Trudeau said the issue will be discussed with his ministers, Reuters reported.

Some protesters said Trudeau's kneeling felt like a stunt without more firm action.

Andray Domise, a Toronto-based writer, told The Guardian: "I'm not interested in bullshit publicity stunts, especially now."

"How the hell can you kneel against police brutality? When everything in your record indicates you have no problem with it. It boggles the mind to watch him turn to the camera – almost like he was confirming that he was being filmed – and kneeling."

Trudeau had been asked on Tuesday to respond to Trump's use of tear gas to clear peaceful protesters from a Washington DC park so he could take photos in front of a church.

Trudeau paused for more than 20 seconds before he responded: "We all watch in horror and consternation what's going on in the United States."

"It is a time to pull people together, but it is a time to listen. It is a time to learn what injustices continue despite progress over years and decades."

Trudeau has also previously been under fire for videos of him wearing blackface and brownface during the 1990s and 2000s. The prime minister said his actions were "unacceptable" and a "terrible mistake."