Justin Trudeau

About

Justin Trudeau is a Canadian politician who served as the leader of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. The politician is known as the second-youngest prime minister in Canadian history and the first to be the child of a previous prime minister, as the eldest son of Pierre Trudeau. Trudeau acted as the leader of the Liberal Party since 2013, overseeing the legalization of cannabis, the implementation of a national carbon tax and many other projects. During his many years in politics, Trudeau became the subject of numerous memes, conspiracy theories, viral moments and controversies, such as the "Brownface Controversy." In January 2025, facing declining approval ratings and internal party strife, Trudeau announced his resignation, closing a nearly decade-long run as Prime Minister.

History

Trudeau first rose to public prominence in 2000, after delivering a eulogy at his father's funeral. The funeral was held at Montreal's Notre Dame Basilica on October 3rd, and was attended by numerous current and former world leaders, including Jimmy Carter and Fidel Castro. The CBC also broadcast the funeral, and later received numerous requests to re-broadcast Justin Trudeau's speech. Soon after, commentators began openly speculating on Justin Trudeau's potential future in politics.^[4][5]

In October 2008, Trudeau was elected to the Canadian Parliament for the district of Papineau in Montreal. In 2011, Trudeau was re-elected to his position in Parliament. In March 2012, Trudeau defeated Conservative senator Patrick Brazeau in a charity boxing match (shown below). In April 2013, Trudeau was elected as the Leader of the Liberal Party in Canada. On October 19th, 2015, Trudeau was elected as the Prime Minister of Canada and is expected to take office on November 4th.

Racism Controversy

On August 16th, 2018, at a campaign rally in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, a woman heckled Prime Minister Trudeau at a rally. She shouted about repayment for social services provided my recent " illegal immigrants." In response to her comments, Trudeau said, "Your racism has no place here."^[6]

That day, Facebook ^[7] user Carl Brochu posted a video of the altercation. The post (shown below) received more than 2,100 reactions, 4,700 comments, 7,500 shares and 300,000 views in one week.

Several days later, Trudeau addressed the controversy, responding to questions,^[8] "There has been a polarization in our political discourse. And there are people who are trying to feed fears and intolerance for a broad range of reasons. … I will remain positive and remain pulling people together, pulling communities together right across this country."

The leader of Canada's conservative party Andrew Scheer criticized Trudeau. He tweeted,^[9] By sweeping away legitimate questions on his failed border policy with vile personal insults, it is Trudeau himself who is guilty of polarizing the debate. No one has done more to divide Canadians than he has."

2024 Canada's Prime Minister Resignation

On January 6th, 2025, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he would step down and end his nine-year run as leader, stating that internal battles within the Liberal Party had made it impossible for him to continue effectively.^[1] Trudeau^[2] spoke to reporters on January 7th, 2024, that he would stay in office till March 24th, 2025, until his Liberal Party can choose a new leader. The press conference (seen below) amassed more than 1.2 million views and 20,000 likes in a few hours.

Online Presence

On April 9th, 2015, the Vice News YouTube channel uploaded an interview with Trudeau conducted by Vice founder Shane Smith (shown below, left). On October 20th, BuzzFeed^[3] published a listicle of tweets featuring politicians praising Trudeau's good looks. On October 21st, Redditor prishpreeed submitted a clip of Trudeau discussing marijuana prohibition with a Canadian citizen to /r/videos,^[2] where it received upwards of 4,700 votes (88% upvoted) and 1,600 comments (shown below, right).

The same day, Redditor Jasperkr672 submitted two screenshots of Jezebel articles to /r/TumblrInAction,^[1] accusing the blog of promoting double standards for "objectifying" male and female politicians (shown below). Within 24 hours, the post garnered more than 5,400 votes (92% upvoted) and 600 comments.

Up For Debate Interview

During an interview orchestrated by the women's advocacy group Up for Debate, Trudeau was asked about the leading causes of violence against women, to which he cited music lyrics, p---ography and absent fathers as leading causes. When asked about his stance on feminism, Trudeau replied that he was "proud to be a feminist" and that people should take a stand against "issues like gamergate or video games misogyny in popular culture."

"Just Watch Me" Note Auction

Following the election on October 19th, 2015, Michael Kydd, a Halifax resident and former Mount Saint Vincent University instructor, posted an eBay auction listing for a handwritten note penned by Trudeau that was given to him in March 2013 during a late-night flight from Halifax to Ottawa. According to the news reports, Kydd initiated the brief in-flight exchange after recognizing Trudeau sitting three rows ahead of him. When Kydd passed a note to Trudeau asking "can you really beat [Stephen] Harper?" the-then contender for the Liberal leadership responded with a note of his own which read "just watch me," a famous quote attributed to his late father and former Canadian prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau. Kydd's eBay listing, which was posted with a starting bid price of $2,500, initially failed to draw any interest, but by late afternoon on October 21st, 62 bids had been placed on Trudeau's note and it was sold for $12,301 on the following day.

Personal Life

Trudeau was born on December 25th, 1971 in Ottawa, Ontario. His father Pierre Elliott Trudeau was Canada's 15th prime minister, serving office from April 1968 to June 1979. Trudeau is married Sophie Grégoire with whom he has three children.

Search Interest

External References