Justin Trudeau

Canadian politician

• Born: December 25, 1971
• Place of Birth: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Education: Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf; McGill University; University of British Columbia; University of Montreal

Significance: Trudeau became the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada in 2013 and in 2015 won election to become prime minister of Canada. He established himself as an influential leader domestically and internationally, winning a second term in 2019 and a third in 2021.

Background

Justin Pierre James Trudeau was born on Christmas night, December 25, 1971. He was born in Canada’s federal capital, Ottawa, because at the time of his birth, his father, Pierre Trudeau, was prime minister of Canada. His mother, Margaret Trudeau, was twenty-nine years younger than Pierre, and she was the youngest first lady in Canada’s history. However, Margaret was unprepared for the combination of formal political life and media scrutiny associated with her job as first lady, and she and Pierre separated when Justin was six years old. As a result, Justin Trudeau and his two younger brothers were raised by a single father who also happened to be at the center of Canadian politics.

Trudeau attended Collège Jean-de-Brébeuf in Montreal, the same Jesuit-founded, French-language private school that his father had attended. He then studied English literature at McGill University, earning a BA in 1994. From there, he went to the University of British Columbia, where he taught snowboarding while working toward his degree in education. The same year he graduated, 1998, his youngest brother was killed in an avalanche; this tragedy led Trudeau to become involved in promoting avalanche safety.

Trudeau taught high-school French and elementary math in Vancouver for the next few years, but he returned to national attention when in 2000, he delivered a memorable eulogy at his father’s funeral. Prime Minister Jean Crétien encouraged Trudeau to consider politics, but the young man was still at a stage where he was trying to find himself. He started but did not complete engineering studies at the University of Montreal, and then he tried environmental geography at McGill, but he did not complete his degree work. For a time, he worked at a Montreal radio station, covering the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, and then he took a role in a TV miniseries (The Great War, 2007). By this time, however, Trudeau was ready to consider running for office.

Entering Politics

In 2002, after his father’s death, Trudeau accepted a position as chairman of the board of Katimavik, the national youth volunteer organization his father had established in 1977. His involvement with Katimavik later made him seem like a good choice for the Liberal Party’s task force on youth renewal; he chaired this task force in 2006. This position was his first step toward politics. Then in 2008, Liberal leader Stéphane Dion convinced Trudeau to run for a seat in Parliament.

Not wanting to get elected purely on his father’s name, Trudeau ran in a multicultural district where his personal history would not be as much of an advantage. Portraying the much-loved war hero Talbot Papineau in a TV series, however, had certainly made him familiar to voters. His good looks and eloquence also aided him, and in 2008, he won the election.

In 2011, despite the fact that the Liberal Party lost power in Canada, Trudeau was reelected to his Parliament seat. Then in 2013, he campaigned to become the leader of the Liberal Party. While there were five other qualified candidates for the position, many in the party thought his youthful enthusiasm and good looks could help them regain power. The campaign was hotly contested, but Trudeau received nearly 80 percent of the 104,000 votes cast.

As leader of the Liberal Party, Trudeau showed that while he might be a novice, he did know how to play politics. Faced with a vote for a bill that would strengthen antiterrorism legislation after a series of attacks in Quebec and Ottawa, Trudeau said he opposed the bill because it violated civil liberties, but he voted for it anyway in order to protect himself from future political repercussions. Of course, this triggered criticism from those who opposed the bill.

That vote took place in May 2015, and that same year, Trudeau began to pursue Canada’s highest office—that of prime minister. A 2012 charity boxing match that Trudeau won was the accomplishment that, according to supporters, hinted at his potential talent as an unbeatable political candidate. In contrast, his opponents pointed out not only his lack of experience but also what appeared to be a lack of focus. One critic noted that, in his memoir, Common Ground, Trudeau wrote more about skiing than about economic issues.

Opponents and inexperience aside, Trudeau ran a solid campaign, striking responsive cords in a young electorate that welcomed his promises of change. And whether or not he was qualified, he was certainly comfortable in the spotlight, having grown up surrounded by world leaders.

Trudeau’s victory in October 2015 was remarkable for several reasons. He was the second youngest prime minister in the country’s history. He was the first prime minister to follow a parent into office. And his win was the first time a party that was ranked third after one election won a majority in the next election.

Prime Minister

As he entered office, Trudeau seemed determined to keep the campaign promises he made, which included legalizing marijuana, protecting religious freedoms, reducing partisanship, reforming the election process, and upholding the rights of women and indigenous people. His cabinet choices reflected his dedication to diversity. For the first time in Canada’s history, the cabinet included the same number of women as men, and the group was ethnically diverse as well. Trudeau himself said he felt that the cabinet "looks like Canada," as quoted in the Guardian.

Despite his pursuit of largely liberal policies, Trudeau did draw some controversy and criticism from within his own party. Notably, in 2016 he approved an expansion of the Kinder Morgan Trans Mountain pipeline project, which would bring the resources of the Alberta oil sands to a British Columbia port. The decision stirred significant protests from environmental groups and Indigenous rights activists for its environmental implications. Trudeau did support other environmental-minded legislation, including a five-year ban on drilling in Arctic waters announced in late 2016. Meanwhile, conservatives continued to attack him as inexperienced and ineffective.

Trudeau also faced a tenuous relationship with the United States after the election of US president Donald Trump, a conservative known for his volatile foreign policy, in 2016. Trudeau vocally opposed Trump's efforts to enact a travel ban widely seen as targeting Muslims, but an even more prominent conflict came in 2018 when Trump announced tariffs on steel and aluminum that would affect Canada. Trudeau asserted that he would impose retaliatory tariffs if necessary, leading to personal attacks by Trump and members of his administration. With Trump threatening to withdraw the United States from the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA), Trudeau negotiated with the US and Mexican governments and, in October 2018, agreed on a proposed replacement trade deal known as the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). The deal included several policies seen as beneficial to Canada, but also included concessions such as allowing US dairy producers greater access to Canadian markets.

October 2018 also saw Trudeau realize his goal of legalizing marijuana nationwide. The legalization measure he had supported went into effect on October 17 after being approved that June, making Canada the second country in the world (after Uruguay) to take such a step.

Trudeau and his administration became involved in a major political scandal in February 2019. Former attorney general and justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould accused administration figures of pressuring her to avoid criminal prosecution of the Canadian engineering company SNC-Lavalin, which stood accused of using bribery to gain government contracts. In January 2019, Wilson-Raybould was reassigned from justice minister to minister of veterans affairs, a move she considered a demotion in retaliation for her refusal to comply to such pressure. Wilson-Raybould subsequently resigned from Trudeau's cabinet, as did Gerald Butts, the prime minister's key aide who allegedly directly pressured her. Other Liberal Party figures also resigned as the scandal deepened and concerns over government corruption grew. Meanwhile, the Conservative Party opposition called for Trudeau himself to step down. That August, an ethics report found Trudeau and his administration guilty of violating conflict of interest laws in the SNC-Lavalin case. Observers considered the scandal a significant blow to Trudeau's public image, particularly in light of the federal elections planned for that October.

In September 2019 Trudeau was caught up in another scandal, as photos of him wearing blackface or brownface makeup on several occasions emerged. Widely criticized for cultural insensitivity or even racism, he apologized and acknowledged his privilege as a White male. Despite these controversies, Trudeau managed to lead the Liberal Party to victory in the October 2019 election and maintained his position as prime minister. However, his party was forced to form a minority government; although they won the most parliamentary seats, they lost the popular vote by a record amount for a ruling party.

Trudeau continued to face an array of issues following the election. In December 2019, he and Trump were again at odds, as Trudeau admitted a video of him and other world leaders laughing during a NATO event showed the group talking about Trump. Still, in March 2020, the Canadian and US governments agreed on a mutual ban on nonessential travel between the two countries as part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Trudeau was himself forced into isolation after his wife tested positive for the viral disease, which had widespread social and economic impacts around the world. Also on the domestic front, in May 2020, following one of the deadliest mass shootings in Canadian history, the prime minister announced military-style assault weapons would be banned in the country.

In August 2021, Trudeau called for a snap election to be held on September 20. He framed the decision as a way for Canadians to give a mandate on how to continue the battle against COVID-19, though he received considerable criticism for sending citizens to the polls amid the ongoing pandemic. The election results were ultimately very close to those of 2019, with Trudeau's Liberal Party winning the most seats but failing to establish a majority government.

In February 2022, Trudeau, under the Emergencies Act of 1988, declared a state of emergency in response to the Freedom Convoy protests, which were started by Canadian truckers in January 2022, with the goal of disrupting shipping and logistics in an effort to force the Canadian government to overturn the mandate that cross-border truckers had to either become vaccinated against COVID-19 or quarantine. The protests heavily disrupted internal and external shipping, particularly in Ottawa, where the protests centered. Trudeau intended to use the state of emergency to freeze the protestors' funding as well as empower local and federal police in their efforts to shut the protests down. Trudeau's invocation of the Emergencies Act was noteworthy for being the first time it was used since its implementation in 1988.

As Trudeau's government continued to fight for gun-control legislation, in October 2022 he ordered that the planned national freeze on the purchase, sale, and transfer of handguns he had first announced in May go immediately into effect. Amid continued debates over whether Chinese interference had impacted the outcome of the 2019 and 2021 elections, in early 2023 Trudeau declared that, for the sake of security, federal government devices would no longer be able to have the TikTok app installed. In May 2023, amid escalating tensions with China over its alleged interference in Canadian elections and the discovery of a Chinese spy balloon illegally flying over Canadian territory in January 2023, Canada expelled a Chinese diplomat.

In other areas of international policy, Trudeau's government also remained committed to supporting Ukraine, which Russia had invaded in February 2022. When the invasion first began Trudeau joined a number of other Western leaders, including US president Joe Biden, in condemning the invasion and imposing harsh sanctions on Russia and its president, Vladimir Putin, In May 2022. Trudeau met Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky during a surprise visit to Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine. Throughout 2022 and into 2023, Trudeau also helped oversee Canada's efforts to provide Ukraine with financial and material support, including a $2.4 billion loan in April 2023 alongside a shipment of assault rifles and ammunition.

In September 2024, Trudeau's approval rate fell to 28%. In October 2024, Trudeau publicly condemned the terrorist attack carried out against Israel by Hamas. Later that year, Trudeau called for a ceasefire between the terrorist organization and the Israeli military.

Personal Life

In 2005 Trudeau married Sophie Grégoire, a Quebec television personality whom Trudeau had known since the two were children in Montreal. The couple had three children, Xavier James, Ella-Grace Margaret, and Hadrian Grégoire.

Bibliography

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"Freezing the Market on Handguns." Prime Minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, 21 Oct. 2022, pm.gc.ca/en/news/news-releases/2022/10/21/freezing-market-handguns. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

Gillies, Rob. "Trudeau's Liberals Win Canada Election, But Miss Majority." AP News, apnews.com/article/canada-health-elections-toronto-coronavirus-pandemic-ddfc4d35fb45559f096bc76f7106949b. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

Harris, Kathleen. "Trump, Trudeau Praise USMCA Trade Deal They Say Will 'Grow Middle Class.'" CBC, 1 Oct. 2018, www.cbc.ca/news/politics/usmca-nafta-trade-deal-1.4845219. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

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McLean’s.McLean’s on Justin Trudeau. Toronto: Rogers Publishing, 2013. Print.

Simon, Darran. "Justin Trudeau's Liberal Party Wins Canada's General Election." CNN, 22 Oct. 2019, www.cnn.com/2019/10/21/world/canadian-general-election-justin-trudeau/index.html. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

Sterling, Joe, and Tony Marco. "A Political Scandal Surrounding Canadian PM Justin Trudeau. What's Going On?" CNN, 7 Mar. 2019, www.cnn.com/2019/03/06/americas/canada-politics-explainer/index.html. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

Tait, Melissa. "Trudeau Invokes Emergencies Act to End Convoy Blockades." The Globe and Mail, 14 Feb. 2022, www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/video-trudeau-invokes-emergencies-act-to-end-convoy-blockades/. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.

Tuns, Paul. The Dauphin: The Truth About Justin Trudeau. Toronto: Freedom Press Canada, 2015. Print.

Yousif, Nadine. "Justin Trudeau's Sinking Popularity Puts Him on Shaky Ground." BBC, 16 Sept. 2024, www.bbc.com/news/articles/cjrdrnxp74wo. Accessed 13 Oct. 2024.