Justin Trudeau
Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who has served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada since 2015 and has been the leader of the Liberal Party since 2013. Trudeau is the second-youngest Canadian prime minister after Joe Clark; he is also the first to be related to a previous holder of the post, as the eldest son of Pierre Trudeau.
Quotes
- Sorted chronologically
before leading Liberals
- For me, to represent people who represent the future of Canada and the great challenges we will face over the coming decades — this is where I wanted to start. … I'm a teacher; I'm a convenor; I'm a gatherer; I'm someone who reaches out to people and is deeply interested in what they have to say. And people see that I'm not faking it. I'm actually genuinely committed to this dialogue that we're opening up, and this understanding that needs to happen in order to be an effective MP.
- On winning his riding nomination in Quebec, as quoted in "Trudeau wins Montreal riding nomination" in CBC News (30 April 2007)
- Honour killings shouldn't be called "barbaric"
- As quoted by the Toronto Sun [1] (March 14, 2011)
- In response to a new citizenship guide for new immigrants that said “Canada’s openness and generosity do not extend to barbaric cultural practices that tolerate spousal abuse, ‘honour killings,’ female genital mutilation, forced marriage or other gender-based violence.” [2]
- You're not going to hotbox my office, no way!
- Responding to comedian Mark Critch pulling out a (prop?) marijuana joint in Justin Trudeau's office in 2013. [3]
2014
- the commitment needs to be a commitment to grow the economy and the budget will balance itself
- a week before 18 February 2014 per Aaron Wherry of Macleans
- We have to realize that the way of thinking that got us to this place no longer holds. We have to rethink elements as basic as space and time, to go all science fictiony [sic] on you in this sense.
- Speaking to university students in September 2014.[4]
- Tomorrow, millions of people will gather with loved ones across Canada and around the world to mark the Christmas holiday.
On this day, Christians reflect on their faith and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. This occasion inspires families and communities to come together, share what they have, and give back to those less fortunate.
May we take this time to reflect on our many blessings, and remind our loved ones how much they mean to us.
On behalf of the Liberal Party of Canada and our entire Liberal Caucus, Sophie and I wish you all a most joyous holiday season. From my family to yours: merry Christmas.- Statement by Liberal Party of Canada Leader Justin Trudeau on Christmas (24 December 2014)
2015
- The Liberal Party believes that terrorists should get to keep their Canadian citizenship ... because I do, And I'm willing to take on anyone who disagrees with that.
- (4 July 2015) as reported by CTV News 27 September 2015
- A Canadian is a Canadian is a Canadian
- In response to Harper In the Munk Debate (Sep. 28 2015) [5]
- Sunny ways my friends, sunny ways. This is what positive politics can do.
- October 20, 2015 (quoting Sir Wilfrid Laurier), reported in Joe O'Connor, 'Sunny ways my friends, sunny ways': Lessons of Wilfrid Laurier not lost on Trudeau, 120 years later, National Post (October 21, 2015).
- Because it's 2015.
- When asked by a reporter on his first day as Prime Minister why he appointed a Cabinet with an equal number of male and female ministers (November 4, 2015); see Trudeau’s 'Because it's 2015' retort draws international attention, Canadian Press (November 5, 2015)
2016
- ISIL would like us to see them as a credible threat to our way of life, our civilization.
We know Canada is stronger, much stronger, than the threat posed by a gang of murderous thugs who are terrorizing some of the most vulnerable people on earth.
Call us old-fashioned, but we think that we ought to avoid doing precisely what our enemies want us to do.
They want us to elevate them, to give in to fear, to indulge in hatred, to eye one another with suspicion and to take leave of our faculties.
The lethal enemy of barbarism isn't hatred.
It is reason.
And the people terrorized by ISIL every day don't need our vengeance.
They need our help.
- The North American idea that diversity is strength, is our great gift to the world. No matter where you are from, or the faith you profess, nor the colour of your skin, nor whom you love, you belong here. This is home.
- While introducting Barack Obama to Parlement. [6] (June 28, 2016)
- We should be past tolerance in Canada
..
In Canada, can we speak of acceptance, openness, friendship, understanding? It is about where we are going and what we are going through every day in our diverse and rich communities
..
Tolerating someone means accepting their right to exist on the condition that they don’t disturb us too, too much.- As quoted by The Guardian, Justin Trudeau rules out burkini ban in Canada (23 August 2016).
- I’ve said many times that there isn’t a country in the world that would find billions of barrels of oil and leave it in the ground while there is a market for it.
- Speaking about the Trans Mountain Pipeline, as quoted by The Guardian, Canada approves controversial Kinder Morgan oil pipeline (30 November 2016).
2017
- It's an old idea from the 19th century. It is something that is not relevant to the vibrant, extraordinary, culture that is Quebec as Quebec is an amazing part of Canada. Nationalism is based on a smallness of thought that closes in, that builds up barriers between people, and has nothing to do with the Canada we should be building. It stands against everything my father ever believed.
- Responding to Michael Ignatieff's Quebec nationalism proposal during a CTV interview on Canada AM.
- Canada is an opening and welcoming society, but let me be clear. We are also a country of laws.
- Remarks after a meeting in Montreal with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, as reported in "'A Country of Laws': Canada's Trudeau Sounds Alarm About Illegal Immigrants", Fox News Insider (21 August 2017)
2018
- My heart goes out to the young girl who was attacked, seemingly for her religion. I can’t imagine how afraid she must have been,
I want her and her family and her friends and community to know that that is not what Canada is, that is not who Canadians are… We are better than this.- 15 January 2018 per National Post article Until it was found to be a hoax, Toronto girl's hijab made news, not the attack on her
- The Trans Mountain expansion is a vital strategic interest to Canada − it will be built.
- As quoted in Canada: Trudeau vows to push ahead with pipeline plans in spite of protests (16 April 2018), The Guardian.
- We like to say peoplekind, not necessarily mankind. It’s more inclusive.
- 'Peoplekind': Trudeau corrects woman for saying mankind 7 August 2018
2019
- We look forward to working alongside internet companies, but indeed, if they do not choose to act, we will be forced to continue to act in ways that protect Canadians and we will have more to say about the kinds of tools we will be using in the coming weeks and months
- The platforms are failing their users. And they’re failing our citizens
They have to step up in a major way to counter disinformation. And if they don’t, we will hold them to account, and there will be meaningful financial consequences.
Misattributed
- If you kill your enemies, they win.
- Attributed by Gavin McInnes (AKA Miles McInnes) of Rebel Media in the satirical video "Why Miles McInnes is moving back to Canada: Trudeau's 10 Greatest Quotes!" at 5m45s number 9/10", along with accompanying article as Gavin McInnes “If you kill your enemies, they win”: Justin Trudeau’s greatest quotes! released the same day, then repeated by Daniel Greenfield in his article "Surrendering to ISIS is the Only Way to Defeat It", Canada Free Press (31 March 2016). A Reddit thread "Any evidence that Trudeau said 'if you kill your enemies, they win'?" questioning the veracity of the attribution was created in April 2017. No corroborating evidence was found to support the "McCinnes brothers" claims that Trudeau said this, yet many others have repeated it as fact. It is possibly a paraphrasing of Trudeau's February 2016 quote about elevating enemies.
Quotes about Trudeau
- "Can I use the word 'foolish'"? said one member of the Federation for a Democratic China, characterizing Trudeau's words [about admiring China's dictatorship]. The political group advocates for the democratization of China. [...] "It seems to be that [Trudeau is] not well-informed," another member of the round table said of Trudeau.
- CBC News, Justin Trudeau's 'foolish' China remarks spark anger 09 November 2013
- The prime minister of Canada, by contrast — whose Liberal party should have something to say about liberty — had this to say about Castro’s death: feels “deep sorrow” upon hearing the news, notes his dad was “very proud to call him a friend,” and offers his “deepest condolences” to the dead dictator’s supporters.
A good leader leads. We encourage young people to speak truth to power. Yet when a powerful leader won’t speak plainly about clear cases of large-scale evil — what lesson does that teach?- Stephen Hicks, Canadian-American philosopher, Two dictators’ deaths — responses from Bush, Trump, and Trudeau, 26 November 2016; in response to Trudeau's official statement as PM in response to Castro's death.
- WTF? Justin Trudeau is the Prime Minister of Canada!? He has Down Syndrome. What the fuck have you idiots done!?!?!!?
- Gavin McInnes, tweet of 20 October 2015
- Tonight we'll dispense with the formalities. I'd like to toast the future prime minister of Canada: to Justin Pierre Trudeau.
- Richard Nixon at a gala in April 1972 during a state visit to Ottawa hosted by Pierre Trudeau, when Justin Trudeau was just four months old, as quoted in "Justin Trudeau, born into political spotlight, seeks to fulfil Nixon prophecy" by Bruce Cheadle in CBC News (19 October 2015)
- God help us, some day Justin might be our prime minister. Don’t be surprised if his first initiative is to try to repeal the law of gravity. Dark matter, anti-matter, doesn’t matter -- somehow we would survive his rejection of the “thinking that got us to this place."
- Monte Solberg, "Justin is Beyond Infinity", Toronto Sun, September 2014; responding to Trudeau's claim that Canadians must rethink space and time.
- Watching China’s markets implode — and bring down the world’s interconnected economy with it — one has to wonder, does Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau still admire this country’s government?
It wasn’t that long ago Trudeau stated we should look to China for an example of how to manage economic growth.When asked to name a country’s whose government he admires, with a smirk and an unrehearsed explanation, Trudeau told us he admires China.
Despite China’s grave human rights abuses against minority religious and ethnic groups, its horrendous environmental degradation, and the serious restrictions it imposes on the rights and freedoms of its citizens, Trudeau said he admired China’s “basic dictatorship.”
Specifically, Trudeau mused about the Chinese government’s ability to turn its economy around on a dime. Yes, it was China’s market manipulation that specifically wooed Trudeau.- Toronto Sun editorial board, "Does Trudeau Still Admire China?" 26 Aug 2016
- Justin Trudeau was born on 25 December 1971. By means of a rough estimate, we note that a 2013 study published in the journal Human Reproduction used data from 130 pregnancies to investigate the range of different pregnancy lengths from conception to birth (gestation) and reported a range of from 247 to 284 days: It is extremely unlikely that Justin’s birth fell outside of that gestational range, meaning that Castro and Margaret Trudeau would have to have conceived their secret love-child between March 16th and April 22nd, 1971.
- Snopes, 30 November 2016, addressing rumors that Trudeau may have been fathered by Fidel Castro
- As has been painstakingly pointed out by the fact-checking site Snopes.com, Trudeau’s December 25, 1971 birthday means that he would have been conceived between March 16 and April 22, 1971.
- National Post, 14 February 2017