Justin Pierre James Trudeau is a Canadian politician serving as the 23rd and current prime minister of Canada since 2015 and leader of the Liberal Party since 2013.
105 Facts About Justin Trudeau
2.
Justin Trudeau graduated from McGill University in 1994 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in literature, then in 1998 acquired a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of British Columbia.
3.
Justin Trudeau was chair for the youth charity Katimavik and director of the not-for-profit Canadian Avalanche Association.
4.
Justin Trudeau was the Liberal Party's Official Opposition critic for youth and multiculturalism in 2009, and the following year he became critic for citizenship and immigration.
5.
Justin Trudeau won the leadership of the Liberal Party in April 2013 and led his party to victory in the 2015 federal election, moving the third-placed Liberals from 36 seats to 184 seats, the largest-ever numerical increase by a party in a Canadian federal election.
6.
In foreign policy, Justin Trudeau's government negotiated trade deals such as the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, and signed the Paris Agreement on climate change.
7.
Justin Trudeau was sanctioned by Canada's ethics commissioner for violating conflict of interest rules regarding the Aga Khan affair, and later again with the SNC-Lavalin affair.
8.
Justin Trudeau led the Liberals to a minority government victory in the 2019 federal election.
9.
Justin Trudeau is the second child in Canadian history to be born to a prime minister in office; the first was John A Macdonald's daughter Margaret Mary Theodora Macdonald.
10.
Justin Trudeau's grandfathers were businessman Charles-Emile Trudeau and Scottish-born James Sinclair, who was minister of fisheries in the cabinet of Prime Minister Louis St Laurent.
11.
Justin Trudeau's maternal great-grandfather Thomas Bernard was born in Makassar, Indonesia and immigrated to Penticton, British Columbia, in 1906 at age 15 with his family.
12.
Justin Trudeau was baptized with his father's niece Anne Rouleau-Danis as godmother and his mother's brother-in-law Thomas Walker as godfather, at Ottawa's Notre Dame Basilica on the afternoon of January 16,1972, which marked his first public appearance.
13.
Justin Trudeau's parents announced their separation in 1977, when he was five years old; his father was given primary custody.
14.
Justin Trudeau lived at 24 Sussex Drive, Ottawa, the official residence of Canada's prime minister, from his birth until his father's government was defeated in the 1979 federal election.
15.
However, the repairs were not complete, so Pierre Justin Trudeau took a prolonged vacation with his sons to the Nova Scotia summer home of his friend, Member of Parliament Don Johnston, and later sent his sons to stay with their maternal grandparents in North Vancouver for the rest of the summer while he slept at his friend's Ottawa apartment.
16.
Justin Trudeau's mother purchased and moved into a new home nearby at 95 Victoria Street in Ottawa's New Edinburgh neighbourhood in September 1979.
17.
Justin Trudeau's father had intended Trudeau to begin his formal education at a French-language lycee, but Trudeau's mother convinced his father of the importance of sending their sons to a public school.
18.
Justin Trudeau could have been dropped off by limousine, but his parents elected he take the school bus albeit with a Royal Canadian Mounted Police car following.
19.
The Justin Trudeau brothers were given a country estate of about 50 hectares in the Laurentians with a home designed by the esteemed Canadian architect Arthur Erickson, and the Cormier House in Montreal.
20.
Justin Trudeau has a bachelor of arts degree in literature from McGill University and a bachelor of education degree from the University of British Columbia.
21.
Justin Trudeau became a roommate at the Douglas Lodge with fellow West Point Grey Academy faculty member and friend Christopher Ingvaldson.
22.
Justin Trudeau started a master's degree in environmental geography at McGill but withdrew from the program to seek public office.
23.
The editorial stated Justin Trudeau provided a "day-late" apology to the reporter, saying, "If I had known you were reporting for a national paper, I never would have been so forward".
24.
In 2018, Justin Trudeau was questioned about the groping incident but said he did not remember any negative incidents from that time.
25.
In 2007, Justin Trudeau starred in the two-part CBC Television miniseries The Great War, which gave an account of Canada's participation in the First World War.
26.
Justin Trudeau portrayed his fifth cousin, twice removed, Major Talbot Mercer Papineau, who was killed on October 30,1917, during the Battle of Passchendaele.
27.
Justin Trudeau is one of several children of former prime ministers who have become Canadian media personalities.
28.
In 2002, Justin Trudeau criticized the Government of British Columbia's decision to stop its funding for a public avalanche warning system.
29.
From 2002 to 2006, Justin Trudeau chaired the Katimavik youth program, a project started by longtime family friend Jacques Hebert.
30.
In 2005, Justin Trudeau fought against a proposed $100-million zinc mine that he argued would poison the Nahanni River, a United Nations World Heritage Site located in the Northwest Territories.
31.
On September 17,2006, Justin Trudeau was the master of ceremonies at a Toronto rally organized by Romeo Dallaire that called for Canadian participation in resolving the Darfur crisis.
32.
Justin Trudeau supported the Liberal Party from a young age, offering his support to party leader John Turner in the 1988 federal election.
33.
In October 2006, Justin Trudeau criticized Quebec nationalism by describing political nationalism generally as an "old idea from the 19th century", "based on a smallness of thought" and not relevant to modern Quebec.
34.
Justin Trudeau later wrote a public letter on the subject, describing the idea of Quebec nationhood as "against everything my father ever believed".
35.
Justin Trudeau announced his support for leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy shortly before the 2006 convention and introduced Kennedy during the candidates' final speeches.
36.
When Kennedy dropped off after the second ballot, Justin Trudeau joined him in supporting the ultimate winner, Stephane Dion.
37.
Rumours circulated in early 2007 that Justin Trudeau would run in an upcoming by-election in the Montreal riding of Outremont.
38.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper called an election for October 14,2008, by which time Justin Trudeau had been campaigning for a year in Papineau.
39.
On election day, Justin Trudeau narrowly defeated Bloc Quebecois incumbent Vivian Barbot.
40.
The Conservative Party won a minority government in the 2008 election, and Justin Trudeau entered parliament as a member of the Official Opposition.
41.
Justin Trudeau's first legislative act was a motion that called for the creation of a "national voluntary service policy for young people".
42.
Justin Trudeau later co-chaired the Liberal Party's April 2009 national convention in Vancouver, and in October of the same year he was appointed as the party's critic for multiculturalism and youth.
43.
Justin Trudeau sparked controversy when it was revealed that he earned $1.3 million in public speaking fees from charities and school boards across Canada, $277,000 of which Justin Trudeau received after becoming an MP.
44.
Justin Trudeau encouraged an increase of Canada's relief efforts after the 2010 Haiti earthquake, and sought more accessible immigration procedures for Haitians moving to Canada in the time of crisis.
45.
Justin Trudeau was re-elected in Papineau in the 2011 federal election, as the Liberal Party fell to third-party standing in the House of Commons with only thirty-four seats.
46.
Ignatieff resigned as party leader immediately after the election, and rumours again circulated that Justin Trudeau could run to become his successor.
47.
However, Justin Trudeau did not enter the race and Ignatieff was named leader in December 2008.
48.
When interim leader Bob Rae, who was seen as a frontrunner, announced he would not be entering the race in June 2012, Justin Trudeau was hit with a "tsunami" of calls from supporters to reconsider his earlier decision to not seek the leadership.
49.
Opinion polling conducted by several pollsters showed that if Justin Trudeau were to become leader the Liberal Party would surge in support, from a distant third place to either being competitive with the Conservative Party or leading them.
50.
In July 2012, Justin Trudeau stated that he would reconsider his earlier decision to not seek the leadership and would announce his final decision at the end of the summer.
51.
Some strategists and pundits believed the leadership would be the time for Justin Trudeau to be tested on these issues; however, there was fear within the party that his celebrity status and large lead might deter other strong candidates from entering the leadership race.
52.
On October 2,2012, Justin Trudeau held a rally in Montreal to launch his bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party.
53.
Liberal candidate Harvey Locke said he lost the by-election on his own and that comments made by Justin Trudeau did not influence the outcome.
54.
Justin Trudeau clashed in debates with challenger Joyce Murray, who was the only Liberal leadership candidate to speak out strongly in favour of electing the House of Commons with a system of proportional representation.
55.
Justin Trudeau challenged Trudeau over his support for a preferential ballot voting system.
56.
Justin Trudeau was declared the winner of the leadership election on April 14,2013, garnering 80.1 per cent of 30,800 votes.
57.
Justin Trudeau had lost only five ridings, all to Murray and all in BC.
58.
In 2013, Justin Trudeau chose to give up his seat at the funeral of Nelson Mandela, in deference to Irwin Cotler as representative of the Liberal Party of Canada, because of Cotler's work for and with Nelson Mandela in fighting apartheid.
59.
Justin Trudeau launched an internet video the week before the 2014 Liberal party convention titled "An economy that benefits us all" in which he narrates his economic platform.
60.
Justin Trudeau said that Canada's debt to GDP ratios have come down in recent years and now it's time for Ottawa to "step up".
61.
On October 19,2015, after the longest official campaign in over a century, Justin Trudeau led the Liberals to a decisive victory in the federal election.
62.
Justin Trudeau declared victory shortly after CBC News projected that he had won a majority government.
63.
Justin Trudeau began his speech with a reference to former Liberal prime minister Wilfrid Laurier's "sunny ways" approach to bringing Canadians together despite their differences.
64.
Justin Trudeau said that his first legislative priority was to lower taxes for middle-income Canadians and raise taxes for the top one per cent of income earners after parliament was reconvened on December 3,2015.
65.
Justin Trudeau issued a statement promising to rebuild relations with Indigenous peoples in Canada and run an open, ethical and transparent government.
66.
Justin Trudeau was criticized by opposition members in November 2016 for his fundraising tactics which they saw as "cash for access" schemes.
67.
Justin Trudeau attended fundraisers where attendees paid an upward of $1500 for access to him and other cabinet members.
68.
Justin Trudeau defended his fundraising tactics, saying that they were not in breach of any ethics rules.
69.
Justin Trudeau stated that he was lobbied at the fundraisers but not influenced.
70.
In 2017, Justin Trudeau introduced legislation that would eliminate such exclusive events by requiring increased transparency for political fundraisers.
71.
The ethics commissioner's report, released in December 2017, found that Justin Trudeau had violated four provisions of the Conflict of Interest Act.
72.
Justin Trudeau became the first sitting prime minister to break federal conflict of interest rules.
73.
In February 2018, Justin Trudeau was criticized when his government invited Khalistani nationalist Jaspal Atwal to the Canadian High Commission's dinner party in Delhi.
74.
When calculating completed and realized pledges, they found Justin Trudeau's government kept 53.5 per cent of their campaign promises.
75.
Wilson-Raybould is heard suggesting that Justin Trudeau would be "breaching a constitutional principle of prosecutorial independence".
76.
Justin Trudeau was the subject of an investigation by the ethics commissioner, pursuant to the Conflict of Interest Act, in regards to criminal charges against SNC-Lavalin in the SNC-Lavalin affair.
77.
The commission's final report, issued August 14,2019, concluded "Mr Justin Trudeau contravened section 9 of the Act".
78.
On September 11,2019, Justin Trudeau visited Governor General Julie Payette, to request the dissolution of Parliament, and formally triggering an election.
79.
On September 18,2019, Time magazine published a photograph of Justin Trudeau wearing brownface makeup in the spring of 2001, at an Arabian Nights-themed gala, while Justin Trudeau was a teacher at West Point Grey Academy.
80.
Justin Trudeau admitted to wearing blackface makeup in high school while singing "Day-O" at a talent show that was published by Global News.
81.
Additionally, some minority community groups, racialized commentators and some of Justin Trudeau's opponents came to his defence.
82.
Justin Trudeau was Prime Minister during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.
83.
Justin Trudeau deployed the Canadian Forces in long-term care homes in Quebec and Ontario as part of Operation LASER.
84.
On May 12,2020, the Justin Trudeau government announced it had reached an exclusive deal with CanSino Biologics.
85.
Justin Trudeau responded by saying WE was the charity that had the capability to administer such a program.
86.
Justin Trudeau was ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing by the ethics commissioner though Morneau was found to have broken the conflict of interest law.
87.
Justin Trudeau invoked the Emergencies Act on February 14,2022 for the first time since it was enacted in 1988, as a result of the public order emergency caused by the demonstrations in Ottawa.
88.
On February 23,2022, Justin Trudeau announced that the federal government would revoke the emergency declaration.
89.
Justin Trudeau announced that he would be appointing a special rapporteur to "make expert recommendations on protecting and enhancing Canadians' faith in our democracy".
90.
In March 2023 Justin Trudeau said that his government would now respond to those recommendations within 30 days.
91.
Justin Trudeau's self-described progressive and feminist social policy has included strong advocacy for abortion rights.
92.
Justin Trudeau's government introduced the bill that made conversion therapies illegal in Canada.
93.
In 2021, Justin Trudeau announced the creation of a national child care plan with the intention of reducing day care fees for parents down to $10 a day per child within five years.
94.
Justin Trudeau's main tool for reaching this target is a federal carbon pricing policy.
95.
Justin Trudeau's parliament adopted legislation for marine conservation, banning six common single-use plastic products, and strengthening environmental impact assessments.
96.
However, Justin Trudeau is in favour of oil and gas pipelines to bring Canadian fossil fuel resources to foreign markets.
97.
Justin Trudeau enjoyed good relations with the "like-minded" United States president Barack Obama, despite Justin Trudeau's support for the Keystone Pipeline which was rejected by the Democratic president.
98.
Donald Trump implemented tariffs on Canadian steel and aluminium, to which Justin Trudeau retaliated by imposing tariffs on American steel, aluminium and a variety of other American products.
99.
Justin Trudeau first met Sophie Gregoire when they were both children growing up in Montreal; Gregoire was a classmate and childhood friend of Justin Trudeau's youngest brother, Michel.
100.
In June 2013, two months after Justin Trudeau became the leader of the Liberal Party, the couple sold their home in the Cote-des-Neiges neighbourhood of Montreal.
101.
On March 12,2020, the Justin Trudeau family self-isolated at Rideau Cottage after Sophie began exhibiting flu-like symptoms and later tested positive for COVID-19.
102.
On January 31,2022, Justin Trudeau announced on Twitter that he tested positive for COVID-19.
103.
On June 13,2022, Justin Trudeau tested positive for COVID-19 for the second time.
104.
Justin Trudeau's father was a devout Catholic and his mother converted from Anglicanism to Catholicism just before their wedding.
105.
Justin Trudeau himself became a lapsed Catholic at age 18, as he felt that much of his day-to-day life was not addressed by the formality and structure of the church.