Justin Trudeau Biography

Justin Trudeau led Canada’s Liberal Party to victory in the election of 2015 and won the office once occupied by his father, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau.

As the son of a celebrity politician, Justin Trudeau grew up in the spotlight, but he didn’t immediately go into politics. Instead, he earned degrees in literature and education and began teaching teenagers in British Columbia.

Along with teaching snowboarding and bungee jumping, Trudeau was an instructor at West Point Grey Academy in Vancouver (1999-2002), then returned to school to pursue an engineering degree.

His emotional eulogy at his father’s funeral in 2000 brought him once again to the national consciousness, but he continued to work for youth programs and even dabbled in acting (he starred in the 2007 TV movie The Great War).

Trudeau turned to politics in 2008, winning a seat in Parliament as a member of the Liberal Party.

He gained leadership of the party in 2013, at a time when some observers were predicting the party’s slow death.

Despite heavy criticism that he was neither capable nor experienced enough, Trudeau and the Liberals won a majority government in October of 2015, ousting longtime Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

During the pandemic in 2020 and 2021 Trudeau’s Liberal Party had a stable minority but hoped for a majority. Trudeau dissolved Parliament in August of 2021 and called for special federal elections for September 20, 2021. The Liberals did not win more seats, as predicted, but Trudeau stayed in power.