Common Ground
Page 26
My thanks to Jennifer Lambert, Iris Tupholme, Leo MacDonald, Michael Guy-Haddock, Sandra Leef, Cory Beatty, Rob Firing, Miranda Snyder, Noelle Zitzer, Neil Erickson, Alan Jones, Shaun Oakey, Sarah Wight, Anne Holloway, Michael Levine, Jonathan Kay, John Lawrence Reynolds, Caroline Jamet, Éric Fourlanty, Yves Bellefleur, Sandrine Donkers, Marie-Pierre Hamel, Brigitte Chabot, Joanna Gruda and Carla Menza, and everyone at HarperCollins Canada and Les Éditions La Presse. They were all extremely patient about working around the craziness of my schedule and adjusting to the impossible pace I keep.
I’m grateful to my political team, who went above and beyond their usual responsibilities, especially Gerry Butts and Katie Telford but also Dan Gagnier, Cyrus Reporter, Alex Lanthier, Tommy Desfossés, Kate Purchase, Mylene Dupéré, and Kevin Bosch. They all helped in many, many different ways. Adam Scotti, photographer extraordinaire, shot many of the great images in this book and curated the rest.
Finally, and most importantly, thank you to Sophie, and to Xavier, Ella-Grace, and Hadrien, who put up with months of Dad working even harder than usual, often during family time that was already far too limited.
Any mistakes found in these pages are my own.
Photos
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4. My first official portrait, with my mother, Margaret.
5. I can now imagine just how my mom and dad felt as new parents.
6. Proof that those who say it was just my dad who was acrobatic with us are clearly mistaken.
7. Papa never missed an opportunity to play with us when he could fit it into his day, especially during set family time in the evenings.
8. Mom loved getting out of the house, and the governor general’s residence across the street from 24 Sussex was the perfect spot for a walk.
9. My parents couldn’t resist taking a silly photo when I had the mumps.
10. Grampa Jimmy and us in our classic OshKosh B’goshes.
11. Sacha and I spent hours playing in and around the fireplace at Harrington Lake. When the fire was not lit, we loved playing with the trap door for the soot, no doubt to the dismay of our parents and the detriment of the furniture.
12. I remember thinking this bike was the greatest thing I had at the time—big shocks, a cushy seat. It was pretty much indestructible. Our bikes gave us freedom to roam the neighbourhood around 24 Sussex (with our RCMP detail in tow).
13. Sacha and I met President Ronald Reagan on one of his trips to Ottawa, in 1981.
14. Mom posing joyfully with her boys outside her new home, at 95 Victoria Street. You can see from the smile on her face how proud she was of the new house and of being with her kids.
15. My father took me to Piazza San Marco in Venice in 1980. I was around the same age he was when he had travelled there with his father decades before.
16.
17. Another of the wonderful memories I look back on from travelling with my dad when he was PM. It’s hard to tell who is having more fun in this photo as my dad drives a tank at CFB Lahr, West Germany, in 1982. Also in the picture are Lt. Jon MacIntyre of Charlottetown (bottom left) and then Toronto MP Roy MacLaren (top right).
18. Seen empty the night before, the next day Red Square was packed with Soviet military and thousands of mourners for Brezhnev’s funeral in 1982.
19. Plus ça change . . .
20. Even after my parents’ divorce, we made a point of having family dinners—often at Sakura, which is still our family’s go-to sushi restaurant. Here we are with Mama Ichi.
21. Mom’s new family—the extended family, really—the Kempers and her three Trudeau boys.
22. The Kemper cottage up at Newboro Lake, where I spent many weekends and summers with Fried, Ally, and Kyle, is still a big part of my life.
23. Here I am with Gerry Butts on the steps of McGill University’s Arts Building, a great spot to hang out with friends overlooking the campus and city. We had met on similar steps outside of the student centre a few years earlier.
24. This overland truck was home for our trek across Africa in 1994—no better way to see the continent.
25. Grinning on the night of the 1995 referendum after I tried putting my arm around the police officer and was firmly pushed back.
26. With students at West Point Grey Academy in Vancouver, where I was a teacher in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
27. Kayaking with Miche, on the same route on the Rouge River I took with my dad, pictured earlier.
28. His dog Makwa in tow, Miche spent the summer after his car accident in 1998 reconnecting and rebuilding all the relationships with his family. We later understood it had been a chance to say goodbye, because he died that fall.
29. This was the only time my father managed to visit Kokanee Lake. It was the September after we lost Michel, and he marvelled at the great beauty that now surrounds his youngest son.
30. Sophie and I love to explore and to stay active. As much as she looks out for me politically, she can also be quite the competitor, no matter what the sport.
31.
32.
33. I am very lucky to have the friends that I do, and even luckier to have them welcome Sophie with such open arms. Pictured here, left to right, are Ian Rae, Gregory Ohayon, Marc Miller, Mathieu Walker, Tom Pitfield, Gerry Butts, me, Seamus O’Regan, Allen Steverman, and Kyle Kemper. Also part of the wedding party, but not captured in this shot, were Navid Legendre and Sacha.
34. I was welcomed with equally open arms by Sophie’s wonderful family.
35. The nomination contest in Papineau in 2007 was my first major political rally as a politician rather than an observer. I always feel lucky to have Sophie by my side, but I felt even more so here because she was pregnant with Xavier at the time.
36. The family together at Sacha and Zoë’s wedding in 2007. Pictured here, left to right, are Sophie, Alicia, my mother, me, Zoë, Sacha, and Kyle.
37. Here we are bringing Xavier home for the first time. This photo captures that point in all new parents’ lives when they realize they are responsible for a little being and no longer have the help of nurses at the hospital—it is stressful but wonderful.
38. Ella-Grace came along less than two years after Xavier, bringing even more joy to our family.
39. We don’t bring the kids out to a lot of political functions, but when we do, we always try to strike the balance of spending time with them while we work.
40. Family time is essential to what I do. It grounds me and reminds me of what we are working toward when on the road. Here Sacha and I gather with our families, along with Sophie’s parents, Estelle Blais-Grégoire and Jean Grégoire.
41. Mom happily showing the kids a magazine we were in. They have always been fascinated with the idea that the family shows up in newspapers and magazines from time to time.
42. My dad used to do similar stunts with us, and I guess he passed that along. The kids don’t seem to mind either.
43. Here I am showing caucus colleagues that yoga can really be done anytime and anywhere.
44. Papineau’s diversity never ceases to amaze me, and there is no better opportunity to get out and see it than during campaign time, as shown here at a local Portuguese club during the 2011 federal election. With endless political discussions and many cultural celebrations, Papineau is a true testament to Canada’s own diversity.
45. The Papineau campaigns defined how I saw the direction the party needed to go after the
2011 election, with a strong ground game and continuous community engagement within every riding.
46. Election day in the riding means not only getting out the vote but also making it out to all the polls and thanking the staffers at the voting stations for their work.
47. I thought it would be hilarious to stick my face in one of my defaced signs. You can’t get too personally upset by vandalism or attacks; it’s easier to have fun with it instead.
48. Ali Nestor Charles, who spars with me here, is a boxer I met through his work with street youth and community outreach in my riding.
49. Meetings and briefings can happen anywhere, as you can see with this greenroom-bathroom hybrid before my leadership campaign launch—with Gerry Butts, Katie Telford, and others.
50. Sophie weighs in very strongly on many of my speeches. From the tone to the approach to the ideas, she is a vital partner for me, ensuring I hit the right notes in both substance and language. She is a brilliant and invaluable sounding board for me in all that I do.
51. The debates were my first opportunity to directly engage in the give and take of ideas at the highest level. I enjoyed challenging others almost as much as I enjoyed being challenged in return.
52. A leadership campaign stop at a library in Brantford, Ontario.
53. Goofing around and sword fighting with the kids minutes before my speech at the Liberal leadership showcase in Toronto, while Gerry monitors his Twitter stream.
54. This photo is all thanks to Alex Lanthier, who was dancing ahead of us before the leadership showcase speech. He’s always been a great dancer and knew when to help us relax before a big event.
55. The last few quiet moments before the showcase as Sophie calms and grounds me.
56. After various drafts go back and forth, Gerry and I input my last changes to speeches, as we are doing here while waiting for the results from the leadership race.
57. The kids had been looking forward to the leadership results all night, but between their not being able to read the results and my not reacting, it took them a little while to catch on. A family photo, really, with my family, Sophie’s parents, my mom, and my sister, Ally, all in the shot.
58. My first media scrum as the new leader of the Liberal Party.
59. Also on my first day as leader, I reached out to the Liberal provincial premiers from my new office.
60. Connecting with kids is always easier if you read them a story to make them forget the mob of people who barged in on their class. This was a great group of kids in Brandon, Manitoba.
61. Work on the Hill is more than just Question Period and caucus meetings. Meeting visitors and constituents is always a good reminder of why we are there in the first place.
62. It is important that constituents be able to connect with their MPs and see them at work. Here are Papineau residents visiting me in Ottawa for the day to see the other aspect of my job, away from the riding.
63. Away from Ottawa, working with volunteers in High River, Alberta, after the floods of 2013.
64. Commandeering an RV wasn’t at the top of my team’s favourite ideas for a summer tour in 2013, especially with Sophie eight weeks pregnant, but it turned out to be a perfect mix of showing my kids British Columbia and connecting with the communities along the way.
65. As the RV tour made its way through B.C., we made sure to stop in Nelson to show the kids Kokanee Lake, where their uncle Miche is. The lake is way off in the distance and truly is one of the most gorgeous and peaceful places on earth.
66. Every stop along the RV tour provided opportunities for great discussions with B.C.’s diverse communities, no matter how big or small. Driving the whole way enabled us to make the most of our trip through the province.
67. In good Canadian tradition, the best parties always end up in the kitchen. This job spoils me by allowing me to share in a hands-on way so many of the different cultures that are a part of the Canadian identity—though I may need to practise my roti making before heading back to this year’s Diwali celebrations.
68. This isn’t just a Liberal rally; it’s a Liberal rally in rural southern Alberta. No matter how many votes a riding earned (or didn’t earn) in the last election, I believe it is important for me to get out there and connect with people.
69. Victoria was home to one of the 800-plus-person rallies that we experienced in the West. I stayed until the very end because I was so touched by how far many had travelled across southern Vancouver Island to attend.
70. After the leadership race a year earlier, the 2014 Liberal convention in Montreal was my first chance to talk directly with our membership. The rooms may change, but speech prep always goes through the same stages—including the reminders to slow down my delivery.
71. When I’m away from home, I always try to call the kids to say good night and to check in on them in the morning. In this case, we even did it during my speech at the Montreal convention.
72. Hadrien wasn’t even an hour old when his father, his grandfather, and his brother started vying to hold him.
73. In Ottawa, at a first meeting of the Economic Council of Advisors. Some people you may recognize in the room include Scott Brison, John McCallum, and Chrystia Freeland, along with many others on the phone.
74. Irwin Cotler has always been an extraordinary friend and mentor in my time on and off the Hill. Any chance to get his feedback is invaluable to me.
75. A moment of celebration with our Canadian Olympians on Parliament Hill.
76. I love nothing more than a good discussion and good challenge—leave it to a Greek mother, pictured here in Scarborough, Ontario, to call it as she sees it.
77. One of the best aspects of my job is meeting and recruiting incredible people, such as Adam Vaughan. Here we are celebrating his electoral victory in the 2014 by-election in Trinity–Spadina, Toronto.
78. As a father, I feel very lucky and blessed to be able to share experiences with my children that I once shared with my father at their age.
79. It was nice to introduce Xavier and Ella-Grace to Mr. Harper. He was very gracious.
80. Hadrien in the arms of his big sister, Ella-Grace.
81. Like my dad, I need to have fun with my children too. Hadrien and I both enjoyed this moment at the Liberal Party barbecue in British Columbia in the summer of 2014.
Photo Credits
All photos are provided courtesy of the author, except for those by Adam Scotti (3, 39, 44–71, 73–81) and the following:
17. The Canadian Press/Peter Bregg
18. Robert Cooper/Library and Archives Canada
25. Leslie Brock
32. Peter Bregg
33. Heidi Hollinger
34. Heidi Hollinger
35. Peter Bregg
36. Peter Bregg
42. Greg Kolz
43. Greg Kolz
About the Author
JUSTIN TRUDEAU is the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada. Prior to his role as an elected official, Trudeau was a teacher in British Columbia and an advocate for the environment and for youth. He spent four years as chair of Katimavik, Canada’s national youth service program. Trudeau was born on December 25, 1971, the eldest son of the late former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Margaret Sinclair Trudeau Kemper. He is married to Sophie Grégoire, and their third child, Hadrien, joined their other two children, Xavier and Ella-Grace, in February 2014.
Copyright
Common Ground
Copyright © 2014 by Justin Trudeau.
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