Tuesday 20 October 2015

From Santa spy to boxer to Canada's Prime Minister: Meet Justin Trudeau

(CNN)Thanks to his father, Justin Trudeau's name was well known in Canada before he launched his campaign earlier this year to -- like the late Pierre Trudeau -- become the country's next prime minister. But who, really, is Justin Trudeau?At 43 years old, he doesn't have the political track record of his famous father or even Stephen Harper, the man who he will succeed in the Canadian government's top job. In fact, some in Canada cast him as a political novice who didn't have what it takes to unseat an incumbent who has been in office since early 2006.For years, though, Justin Trudeau has shown that he can pull off surprises. He did it during the 78-day national campaign, just as he has done before.
Tapped as prime minister ... by Richard Nixon
    On Christmas Day 1971, then Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and his wife Margaret welcomed their first child, Justin.A few months later, U.S. President Richard Nixon arrived in Ottawa and made a bold, if lighthearted, prediction."Tonight, we'll dispense with the formalities," Nixon said during an April 1972 state visit, according to reports. "I'd like to toast the future prime minister of Canada: to Justin Pierre Trudeau."Justin would later be joined by two brothers, including Michel who was killed in a 1998 avalanche. A half-sister, Sarah, would come about 20 years after his own birth (and well after his father and parents had divorced).If there's ever any sibling rivalry, Justin Trudeau can always fall back on having been the chosen one -- albeit chosen by a man, in Nixon, forced to leave office himself under scandal.

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