Justin Trudeau

Background

Justin Trudeau was born on December 25, 1971 in Ottawa, Canada. His father Pierre was Canada’s prime minister at the time. The younger Trudeau is one of the 21st century’s most progressive and effective democratic politicians. After attending both public and private grade schools, Trudeau earned a bachelor of arts degree in literature from McGill University and a bachelor of education degree from the University of British Columbia. After graduating, Trudeau worked as a mathematics and French teacher and briefly studied for an engineering undergraduate degree and a master’s degree in environmental geography but left the latter to pursue a career in politics.

In the early 2000s, Trudeau worked for several advocacy organizations engaged in youth empowerment and environmental protection. Most notably, he served as the chair for Katimavik, a youth charity encouraging youth participation in community service, and as the director of the Canadian Avalanche Association. In 2008, he was elected to represent Papineau, a district in Montreal, in Canada’s House of Commons. Trudeau was appointed leader of Canada’s Liberal Party in 2013 and won the federal elections two years later, becoming Canada’s 23rd elected prime minister. He immediately began championing progressive causes such as federal carbon taxes and Senate appointment reform. He also began working on several trade agreements with neighboring countries. Under the Paris Agreement, the Canadian government signed up with a commitment to working to reduce Canada’s carbon emissions.

He secured his second term as prime minister in 2019. The following year, Trudeau declared a common-sense gun law banning civilian ownership of assault weapons following domestic terrorist attacks in Nova Scotia. In 2022, Trudeau invoked Canada’s Emergencies Act in response to the so-called “Freedom of Convoy” threats to restrict citizens’ freedom of movement unlawfully.