Justin Trudeau

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Justin Trudeau  BA (McGill) BEd (UBC) MP
Trudeau at the 2006 Liberal leadership campaign
Member of the Canadian Parliament for Papineau
Incumbent
Assumed office  2008 federal election
Preceded by	Vivian Barbot
Born	December 25, 1971 (1971-12-25) (age 37) Ottawa, Ontario
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Sophie Grégoire
Relations	Pierre Trudeau, father Margaret Trudeau, mother Alexandre Trudeau, brother
Children	Xavier James Trudeau Ella-Grace Margaret Trudeau
Alma mater	McGill University University of British Columbia
Occupation	Teacher
Religion	Roman Catholic

Justin Trudeau

Justin Trudeau MP (born December 25, 1971 in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) is the eldest son of the late former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and Margaret Sinclair Trudeau Kemper. On October 14, 2008, he was elected to become the Member of Parliament for the riding of Papineau.

[edit] Early life and personal life

Trudeau and his younger brother, Alexandre (Sacha), were both born on December 25. Pierre and Margaret Trudeau separated in 1977, when Justin was 6 years old. Pierre retired as Prime Minister in 1984. Of his mother and father's divorce, Trudeau told an interviewer in September 2008, “I realized that my father had two priorities: this country and his children. His wife didn’t really fit into that the way I know she would have wanted.”^[1]

Justin Trudeau was only the second child in Canadian history to be born during a father's term as Prime Minister; he was preceded by John A. Macdonald's youngest daughter Margaret Mary Macdonald.

Pierre Trudeau raised his children in relative privacy in Montreal. Justin recalled fond memories of his father in a 2008 interview, saying that of all the family outings he enjoyed camping with his father the most--because "that was where our father got to be just our father—a dad in the woods.”^[1] Justin studied English literature (BA , McGill University) and Education (B.Ed, University of British Columbia), eventually becoming a social studies and French teacher in Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School in Vancouver, British Columbia. He is currently completing a Master of Arts in Geography at McGill University. At his father's funeral in 2000, Justin delivered a memorable eulogy.^[2]

On May 28, 2005, Justin Trudeau married Sophie Grégoire, a former model and Quebec television host. They have two children: Xavier James Trudeau (born October 18, 2007)^[3] and Ella-Grace Margaret Trudeau (born February 5, 2009)^[4].

Trudeau is one of several children of former Prime Ministers who have become Canadian media personalities. The others are Ben Mulroney, Catherine Clark, and Justin's younger brother, Alexandre. Though Pierre Trudeau and Brian Mulroney were longtime foes, this rivalry did not carry over to their sons, as Ben Mulroney was a guest at Justin Trudeau's wedding.

[edit] Media and political career

[edit] Advocacy

Trudeau has used his media footing to offer his opinion or act as an advocate for various issues.

• He has been a campaigner for winter sports safety since the death of his brother Michel in an avalanche on a ski trip in 1998.
• In 2003, he served as a panelist on CBC Radio's Canada Reads series, where he championed The Colony of Unrequited Dreams by Wayne Johnston.
• On 17 September 2006, Trudeau hosted a rally in Ramsden Park in Toronto, calling for Canadian participation in the Darfur crisis.
• On 25 October 2006, Trudeau appeared on CTV's Canada AM. Asked about what he thought of Quebecers asking for national recognition, he replied that nationalism today as a general concept is "based on a smallness of thought.”^[5] His comments were seen as a criticism of Michael Ignatieff's push to recognize Quebec as a nation.
• Justin was recently the keynote speaker at Burlington's Notre Dame Leadership Conference 2008.

[edit] Entrance into political realm

Trudeau (left) is seated next to Darfurian refugee Tragi Mustafa, and an unknown female event organiser is seated next to Roméo Dallaire (right)

During the 2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership convention, Trudeau actively endorsed Gerard Kennedy.^[6] When Kennedy dropped off after the 2nd ballot, Trudeau went with him to support former Environment Minister, and ultimate winner, Stéphane Dion.

In January 2007, rumours were getting persistent about Justin Trudeau entering politics, especially after being highly active in the 2006 Liberal convention.^[7] It was rumoured that Trudeau was going to run in the Montreal Outremont riding which is a traditional Liberal stronghold, after former Minister of Transport Jean Lapierre resigned from the House of Commons to become a political commentator.^[8]

A nomination vote for the Liberal candidate in Papineau was held on April 29, 2007, which Trudeau handily won. Trudeau received 690 votes, while runners-up Mary Deros received 350 votes and Basilio Giordano received 220. 634 votes were needed to win the nomination.^[9] Trudeau defeated incumbent Bloc Québécois MP Vivian Barbot in the 2008 election. Trudeau was one of only a few Liberal candidates to gain a seat at the expense of an opposition party in the election.

CBC Television announced in April 2007 that Justin Trudeau would appear in the two-part miniseries, The Great War, portraying Talbot Mercer Papineau (1883-1917). Papineau was killed in action in Ypres, Belgium and was among Canada's first Rhodes Scholars. Coincidentally, Trudeau is now the Liberal MP-elect for a riding named after Talbot Mercer Papineau's lineage: this includes his great-great-grandfather, seigneur Joseph Papineau (1752-1841) and Talbot's great-grandfather, reformist Patriote Louis-Joseph Papineau (1786-1871).

As of Stéphane Dion's resignation as leader of the Liberal Party following his defeat in October 2008, Trudeau has been considered among the potential leaders to replace him, despite his inexperience.^[10] However, in an interview with the Canadian Press shortly before Dion's resignation, Trudeau stated that "if there is a leadership (race) right now I will not be running for any leadership role."^[11]

Edward Greenspon, editor in chief of The Globe and Mail, said in a September 2008 interview, “The day he arrives on Parliament Hill he’ll be viewed as few other rookie MPs are—as a potential future prime minister—and scrutinized through that lens.”^[1]

[edit] References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Justin Trudeau

Wikinews has related news: Justin Trudeau

[edit] External links

• Justin Trudeau at the Internet Movie Database

v • d • e Pierre Trudeau Political activities Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-69 · Liberal Party of Canada leadership convention, 1968 · Trudeaumania · Just Society · Official bilingualism in Canada · Petro-Canada · National Energy Program  · Constitution Act, 1982  · Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms Elections Canadian federal election, 1968 · Canadian federal election, 1972 · Canadian federal election, 1974 · Canadian federal election, 1979 · Canadian federal election, 1980 Life Death and state funeral Family Margaret Trudeau · Justin Trudeau · Alexandre Trudeau · Michel Trudeau · Charles Trudeau