justin trudeau homework ban

Trudeau says kids denied a Pride flag at their schools have one on Parliament Hill

Children who do not see a Pride flag at their schools should know one is flying for them on Parliament Hill, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday, as he condemned the sharp rise in laws curtailing the rights of transgender people across the United States.

Trudeau hoisted the flag that celebrates the LGBTQ2S+ community at an event where he was joined by MPs from all political parties, marking the eighth time he has done so since being elected to power in 2015.

"We all thought it would get easier after that moment," he said, referring to the first time the flag was raised on the Hill in Ottawa.

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“But we've been reminded by a rise in anger, hatred and ignorance and intolerance, that things getting easier is not automatic.”

The prime minister echoed other speakers who warned of the discrimination faced by members of the LGBTQ2S+ community, both online and in their daily lives.

It has grown worse in recent years as conservative groups, particularly in the U.S., protest drag queen performances and fight to take away gender-affirming care for transgender people, especially minors.

The speakers underscored that Canada is not immune to such sentiments, given such protests are also happening in the country,with Trudeau saying “transphobia, biphobia, homophobia are all on the rise.”

Among the issues speakers pointed to were proposed changes by New Brunswick Premier Blaine Higgs' government that seek to change some school rules around LGBTQ2S+ students. One such change would mean that students younger than 16 who identify as transgender and non-binary would not be allowed to officially change their names or pronouns without parental consent.

Higgs's Progressive Conservative government has defended the move as fulfilling the wishes of parents, but it has been met with backlash.

NDP MP Blake Desjarlais, a co-chair of the recently-founded parliamentary Pride caucus comprised of federal lawmakers from the LGBTQ2S+ community, said Thursday that Canada was witnessing extremism pushed by individuals who are trying to take away others' rights.

“We will not accept going backwards,” said Desjarlais, who is two-spirit.

“We are not here to make kids queer. We are here to make sure queer kids are not made into dead kids. That is why the raising of this flag today is not only a symbol of our love for community, it is also a symbol that we will be unrelenting in our discovery of who we are.”

During his address, the prime minister saidattempts have been made to stop Pride celebrations and noted that over the past few weeks, Canadians have watched as people try to remove books about gender and sexuality from schools.

That is cruel to children who struggle with questions about their identities or live in homes where such questions are not met with love, said Trudeau.

The Brandon School Division in southern Manitoba recently voted against a call to remove books with LGBTQ2S+ content from its libraries.

Trudeau also said students are often the ones fighting for the Pride flag to be hoisted at their schools, and in some places, those efforts have been denied.

Such was the case for the York Catholic District School Board, which voted last week against flying the flag outside its main office.

Addressing students who are without a Pride flag, the prime minister said: “I'm here to say even though the flag may not fly at your school, know that it proudly flies here, in your seat of government.”

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh and Green Party Leader Elizabeth May both attended the ceremony. Melissa Lantsman, who serves as deputy leader for the Conservatives and is lesbian, also attended.

At a separate news conference on Parliament Hill, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre said he was up late filibustering the Liberals' budget in the House of Commons the previous night when asked why he didn't attend.

“I believe every Canadian, regardless of who they are, regardless of their race, sexuality, gender, deserves to be safe,” he said Thursday, adding that if a Canadian commits violence against another, “they should be thrown in the slammer.”

Poilievre characterizes his job as Conservative leader as to promote freedom for all Canadians. Speaking in Winnipeg last week, he wished Canadians “a happy Pride month,” saying “our freedom is something in which all of us can take pride.”

He did not answer, however, when asked whether he plans to attend an event, with festivities spanning the country until the end of the month.

On Twitter, Sport Minister Pascale St-Onge accused Poilievre of being “all talk and no action” for being “nowhere to be seen” during the morning's event.

“A leader's greatness is measured by their ability to rally everyone around them. His absence today speaks volumes. Now, more than ever, we must fight against the rising hate towards 2SLGBTQI+ people.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 8, 2023.

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After two failed attempts, Canada bans conversion therapy

Rachel Treisman

People carry a rainbow flag at the WorldPride 2014 Parade in Toronto in 2014. Geoff Robins/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

People carry a rainbow flag at the WorldPride 2014 Parade in Toronto in 2014.

Canada has formally banned conversion therapy, the widely discredited practice aimed at changing a person's sexual orientation or gender identity.

Legislation that makes it illegal to provide, promote and profit off conversion therapy was officially approved on Wednesday and will take effect in 30 days, on Jan. 7.

"It's official: Our government's legislation banning the despicable and degrading practice of conversion therapy has received Royal Assent - meaning it is now law," tweeted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. "LGBTQ2 Canadians, we'll always stand up for you and your rights."

(The Canadian government utilizes the acronym "LGBTQ2" to include Two-Spirit, a term that some Indigenous people use to describe their sexual, gender and/or spiritual identity.)

The bill defines conversion therapy as any practice, treatment or service designed to change or repress a person's sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

Those techniques can range from talk and behavioral therapy to medical treatments , and have been discredited by major medical associations in many countries (including the U.S.) as well as the United Nations, World Health Organization, Amnesty International and other groups. Critics say the practice causes harm to its victims and is based on the false premise that sexual orientation and gender identity can or should be "cured."

As many as one in 10gay, bi, trans and queer men and Two-Spirit and nonbinary people in Canada have experienced conversion therapy, according to recent findings of a study by the Community-Based Research Centre. Among them, 72% started before the age of 20. Lower-income, Indigenous and other marginalized groups are disproportionately represented, according to Canada's Justice Department .

The Justice Department notes that some jurisdictions, like Ontario and Québec, have enacted legislation addressing different aspects of conversion therapy, while certain municipalities have banned the practice and promotion within their city limits.

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This was Canada's third attempt at banning the practice nationally, with the Toronto Star noting that the bill went farther than previous versions by making it a crime to have anyone to undergo conversion therapy, regardless of whether they consent. This time, the bill was unanimously approved in both the House of Commons and the Senate.

"The consensus demonstrated by Parliamentarians in Canada is a part of an emerging global consensus surrounding the real and life - long harms for conversion therapy victims and survivors," Justice Minister David Lametti said in a statement cheering the bill's passage. "In fact, with these changes to the Criminal Code, Canada's criminal laws on conversion therapy are among the most comprehensive in the world."

The complete ban on so-called conversion therapies has received Royal Assent. This is a victory for Canada, in particular the bravery and the courage of the survivors who have been speaking out for years. This is what making history feels like. Thank you. 🏳️‍🌈 — David Lametti (@DavidLametti) December 8, 2021

The text of the bill says it harms society because "it is based on and propagates myths and stereotypes about sexual orientation, gender identity and gender expression, including the myth that heterosexuality, cisgender gender identity, and gender expression that conforms to the sex assigned to a person at birth are to be preferred over other sexual orientations, gender identities and gender expressions."

It makes it a criminal offense to cause someone to undergo conversion therapy, promote or advertise the practice, receive financial or other material benefits from providing it and do anything for the purpose of removing a child from Canada with the intention of making them undergo conversion therapy in another country.

It also authorizes courts to order the removal of advertisements for conversion therapy .

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Former 'ex-gay' leaders denounce 'conversion therapy' in a new documentary.

"This legislation represents an important milestone in the Government's commitment to protecting the dignity and equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and Two-Spirit communities, by criminalizing a shameful, unscientific, and destructive practice," Lametti said, adding that more work must be done to protect LGBTQ2 people.

Many politicians and LGBTQ2 rights advocates are applauding the bill's passage, and crediting the activists who shared their personal stories with making it possible.

"It's hard to describe how significant this is to so many survivors, but beyond the LGBTQ2+ community, all Canadians should be proud of this historic moment of nonpartisanship to do the right thing," tweeted Nick Schiavo , one of those activists. "This matters. This sends a clear message. This is Canada at its best."

Conversion therapy bill passed in @SenCa ! A major milestone just passed for the rights of LGBTQ2+ communities in this country and I am beyond proud. #polcan https://t.co/qlbiTv7jlM — Sén. René Cormier (@SenCormier) December 7, 2021

BREAKING: Canada has banned conversion therapy. Bill #C4 received Royal Assent today after unanimous votes in both the House of Commons & Senate. This bold action sends a resounding message of support to LGBTQ youth across the world. — Amit Paley (@amitpaley) December 8, 2021

There's been a growing push to ban conversion therapy around the world.

In the U.S., 20 states and some 100 municipalities have banned the practice, according to a tracker from the National Center for Lesbian Rights' Born Perfect campaign.

Three European countries have outlawed conversion therapy: Malta, Germany and Albania. And there could soon be a fourth, as France's Senate voted to criminalize it this week.

This story originally appeared on the Morning Edition live blog .

After 8 years in power, what is Justin Trudeau’s legacy — and how will he cement it?

Professor, School of Public Policy and Administration, York University, Canada

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Justin Trudeau led the Liberals to electoral victory in 2015 , when the party began the federal election campaign with just three dozen MPs in the House of Commons.

Trudeau’s campaign platform promised Canadians significant reforms in several areas.

How has he fared? Let’s take a look.

Gender equity

Trudeau acted quickly to fulfil his promises on gender equality, appointing a cabinet that was — and continues to be — 50 per cent women.

Thanks to six consecutive Supreme Court of Canada appointments by Trudeau, there are more women than men on the court for the first time in Canadian history.

It seems unlikely that future prime ministers will be able to claim that there are insufficient qualified women in their caucus to maintain the 50 per cent female precedent set by Trudeau. The same applies to Supreme Court appointments, and those of other government bodies.

Indigenous agenda

Trudeau also acted quickly on his reconciliation agenda with Canada’s Indigenous communities.

Expectations were high, but only limited progress has been made on access to services such as drinking water, child welfare, housing and health care for First Nations, Inuit and Métis people.

Read more: Trudeau launches Canada into a radically new approach to Indigenous affairs

However, there has been some movement on all fronts, and there is now public accountability and tracking .

A future government may not be as active as Trudeau’s Liberals in consulting with First Nations, Inuit and Métis leaders but the priority given to Indigenous Peoples in Canadian politics is unlikely to slide back to where it was in 2015.

Legal drugs

A controversial platform item in 2015 was the legalization of cannabis, which departed from the prohibitionist view held by previous governments of all political stripes.

By 2018, recreational cannabis sale and use was legal in Canada with relatively little opposition. At present, at the five-year mark, the policy is largely accepted, even if the public health outcomes are mixed .

Read more: A campaign promise kept: Canada's modestly successful cannabis legalization

It’s highly unlikely any future government would be able to roll back the legislative changes that now permit cannabis shops across Canada , from Watson Lake in Yukon to Happy Valley-Goose Bay in Labrador.

As the experience with the legalization of gambling shows, governments become addicted to the revenues generated and jobs created from creating consumer demand for previously illegal activities. Private-sector producers and retailers of cannabis would also fight against any attempt to shrink their market.

Other initiatives

Other noteworthy reforms under Trudeau include non-partisan Senate appointments, a carbon tax and early learning and child-care bilateral agreements. However, each of these is subject to reversal. A future prime minister may have different criteria in appointing senators.

The carbon tax remains precarious, with the Conservatives calling for a carbon tax election .

Read more: Are freeloading premiers undermining Canada's climate strategy?

The child-care agreements with the provinces that will see fees decrease to $10 a day by 2026 have been made possible by federal funds that are too enticing for the premiers to pass up.

However, a future government may not have the same spending priorities, at which time the role of the state in child-care policy may shift yet again.

Will Trudeau resign?

There is no sign that Trudeau will depart before the next election even as the latest polls show his party trails the Conservatives . There is little precedent of Canadian prime ministers resigning before they must.

Stephen Harper, John Diefenbaker and Louis St. Laurent lost at the polls. Jean Chrétien was pushed out by his own party . William Lyon Mackenzie King and Lester Pearson resigned due to ill health .

Brian Mulroney and Justin Trudeau’s father, Pierre, resigned when polls over a long period of time made it abundantly clear they — and their parties — would be voted out of office.

Legacy lesson from the elder Trudeau?

Although some of Trudeau’s legacy is secure, none of it has redefined the nation and isn’t likely to do so in the future.

The last landmark achievement of a Canadian prime minister was 40 years ago, when Trudeau’s father succeeded in repatriating the Constitution from Great Britain and enshrining the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. This type of bold constitutional reform could provide inspiration to Justin Trudeau in how to cement his legacy.

Removing King Charles as Canada’s head of state is an attractive proposition if Trudeau needs votes in Québec, where the monarchy has never been popular.

It would also appeal to voters in Canada’s large urban areas, where immigration patterns have reduced the proportion of voters with a connection to the U.K.

For the Liberals to win the next election, after all, they require votes in Québec and in Vancouver, Toronto and Montréal.

Indigenous head of state?

Opening the Constitution for a homegrown head of state could also ensure future Indigenous heads of state like the current governor general appointed by Trudeau , Mary Simon. Governor generals serve as the monarch’s representative in Canada.

Constitutional reform proposals are fraught with dangers , as Mulroney well knows. His two attempts at constitutional amendment that would have decentralized the federation — the Meech Lake Accord in 1990 and the Charlottetown Accord in 1992 — consumed immense political capital but ultimately ended in failure .

But as Trudeau heads into what will likely be his last election, opening the Pandora’s box of constitutional reform might offer one route to secure a legacy that few other prime ministers can match.

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Trudeau's use of the Emergencies Act was ruled unconstitutional. What happens now?

The immediate political impact for Justin Trudeau and his government is far greater than the legal impact

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OTTAWA – In a landmark ruling, a Federal Court judge ruled Tuesday that the Liberal government unconstitutionally and unjustifiably invoked the Emergencies Act in response to ongoing Freedom Convoy blockades in early 2022.

Trudeau's use of the Emergencies Act was ruled unconstitutional. What happens now? Back to video

So what does that mean for the government?

What did the Federal Court rule exactly?

On Feb. 14, 2022, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s government announced it was invoking the exceptional powers of the Emergencies Act for the first time in response to ongoing, weeks-long Freedom Convoy blockades in Ottawa that thwarted police control.

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The Act, invoked for just over one week, was used to freeze some convoy participants’ bank accounts, compel tow truck companies to co-operate with local police clearing out blockades and mark parts of downtown Ottawa as a no-go zone. It was also meant to prevent protesters who had blockaded the US-Canada border in Ontario and Alberta from returning.

Civil liberty groups quickly opposed the measure in court. Now, nearly two years later, Federal Court Justice Richard Mosley said they were mostly right: the Freedom Convoy did not meet the high threshold of a threat to national security necessary to invoke the law. The “harm” to Canada’s economy did not equate to a threat or the use of serious violence.

The government also breached certain (“peaceful”) Canadians’ Charter rights when blocking some bank accounts and banning them from downtown Ottawa.

What was the government’s response?

Within hours of the ruling’s publication, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland promised to appeal it. Is that based on a solid and meditated legal analysis by government lawyers? Probably not, says Leah West, national security law expert and assistant professor at Carleton University.

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“The fact that there was the response that ‘we’re going to appeal’ before a full reckoning or appreciation of the decision shows that the response is a political one and the appeal would be of a political nature,” she said.

Does the ruling mean the Emergencies Act is unconstitutional?

Nope. Mosley made it very clear that his decision only weighs in on the Trudeau government’s use of the Emergencies Act in February 2022, and not on the legality of the Act as a whole.

Had any of the opponents to the invocation argued the Act should be invalidated, Mosley said he would have considered the issue meritless anyway.

“This case was not about the constitutionality of the Act but, rather, how it was applied in this instance,” he wrote.

Are there any legal consequences to Mosley’s decision?

Lots! But likely not in the immediate.

The immediate political impact is far greater for Justin Trudeau and his government, says Université Laval constitutional law professor Patrick Taillon.

“On a political and symbolic level, the impact is enormous. This changes the equation in the lead up to the next federal election,” he said.

“On a partisan level, this is far more advantageous for (Conservative leader) Pierre Poilievre than for Justin Trudeau. The fact that a court, with all of its authority, says that it reflected, wrote a 190 page ruling and found that the Trudeau government illegally violated the Charter will have a lot of weight. It will put the government on the defensive.”

The main legal consequence is that the ruling now sets a clearer — and possibly higher — bar for future governments to invoke the Act, according to experts.

“It wasn’t clear, and you want (the moment) when an emergency meets the definition such that you can invoke these extreme powers to be very freaking clear,” West said.

She added that Mosley’s ruling will also prevent any future “clever stretching” of the application of the Act in future potential emergency situations.

West noted the ruling also hammers the point that the Emergencies Act needs to be modernized to better reflect modern-day threats that weren’t captured when it was enacted in 1988. That was also recommended by Public Order Emergency Commission head Paul Rouleau last year.

Taillon agreed with the need to reform the law. He also said the ruling sets a higher threshold for future governments to invoke the Act, which concerns him.

“In an emergency situation, you don’t want the straitjacket to be too tight either. You don’t want to create a chilling effect where governments, in an emergency situation or crisis… that is more important than the one in 2022, say they can’t invoke the Act because of a court’s order,” Taillon said.

Joanna Baron, executive director of the Canadian Constitution Foundation which was part of the successful lawsuit against the government, disagreed.

“I say the ruling restores the threshold to what it was intended to be” when Brian Mulroney’s Progressive Conservative government enacted the Act in 1988, Baron said. “I wouldn’t say it raises (the threshold).”

What about people affected by Emergency Act measures, can they sue or something?

Quite possibly! But if so, they’ll have to do it fast.

West, Taillon and Baron agreed that the ruling could offer some opportunity to individuals impacted by the powers of the Act (like those who had their bank accounts frozen during the Convoy protests) to launch a civil lawsuit against authorities.

“It’s not impossible that that occurs. It’s like the judge said that the public order emergency is invalid, so the temporary rules that were put in place against (some protestors) … are cancelled. So the consequences of those measures are attackable,” Taillon said.

But they’ll have to overcome a number of significant hurdles, the most significant likely being Ontario’s two-year statute of limitations for most civil cases. If their bank accounts were frozen in February 2022 and it’s now late January 2024…

“Nobody knows for sure what the implications are going to be,” Baron said. “It certainly can’t hurt that you now have a judicial precedent and a judicial declaration that the government acted unlawfully. That would be something like circumstantial evidence of negligent behavior that could ground a civil claim.”

“But I would be lying if I said anybody knows for sure,” she added.

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'People just don't like us anymore': Quebec is turning on Trudeau's Liberals

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Trudeau Declares Rare Public Emergency to Quell Protests

“We cannot and will not allow illegal and dangerous activities to continue,” Canada’s prime minister said in a speech to the nation.

By Ian Austen and Dan Bilefsky

Follow our live coverage on the trucker protests in Canada .

OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took the rare step of declaring a national public order emergency on Monday in a push to end protests that have paralyzed the center of the Canadian capital for more than two weeks and reverberated across the country.

Mr. Trudeau and several of his cabinet ministers said the move would allow the government to take a variety of steps, including freezing bank accounts of protesters, to clear the blockade of about 400 trucks in Ottawa and smaller protests that have closed border points in Alberta and Manitoba.

“We cannot and will not allow illegal and dangerous activities to continue,” the prime minister said in a speech to the nation, pointing to “serious challenges to law enforcement’s ability to effectively enforce the law.”

The invocation of the Emergencies Act confers enormous, if temporary, power on the federal government.

It allows the authorities to move aggressively to restore public order, including banning public assembly and restricting travel to and from specific areas. But Mr. Trudeau and members of his cabinet offered repeated assurance that the act would not be used to suspend “fundamental rights.”

It has been half a century since emergency powers were last invoked in Canada. Mr. Trudeau’s father, Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, imposed them during a terrorism crisis in Quebec. Monday was the first time that the 1988 Emergencies Act has been used.

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Trudeau loses another Liberal stronghold in Bloc Québécois byelection victory

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Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has suffered another devastating byelection blow with the loss of a second Liberal stronghold, this one to the Bloc Québécois in LaSalle—Émard—Verdun.

Voters went to the polls Monday in the Montreal riding as well as in Winnipeg's Elmwood—Transcona, where the NDP retained its long-held seat after a tough race against the Conservatives.

Trudeau already faced calls from party faithful to resign as leader after unexpectedly losing Toronto—St. Paul’s to the Conservatives in a byelection this past June.

Longtime Liberal supporter and strategist Andrew Perez called this new loss "yet another nail in Justin Trudeau’s coffin."

While byelections aren't usually credited with much significance on Parliament Hill, the votes in Winnipeg and Montreal were viewed as bellwethers of the political shifts happening in Canada.

"If Trudeau’s Liberals can’t hold this safe seat, it will spell even bigger trouble for the party’s prospects in Quebec and across Canada in a critical election year," Perez said in a statement before the final vote.

Bloc Québécois supporters in Montreal shouted and jumped up and down so hard the floor shook at news of their victory, some with Quebec flags draped around their shoulders.

The Bloc was locked in a tight three-way race with the Liberals and the NDP right up until the final poll was reported.

"We are here and we work hard because we believe in the interests of Quebec and we believe in independence," the Bloc candidate Louis-Philippe Sauvé said before the final votes were counted.

Elections Canada reported all 187 polls early Tuesday, showing the Bloc won the seat just 248 votes ahead of the Liberals.

The Montreal seat opened up when former justice minister David Lametti left politics.

Liberal ministers visited the area several times as the party worked hard to keep the riding it has held for decades.

The Bloc's deputy House leader Christine Normandin said no one would have expected the Bloc to do well in the longtime Liberal stronghold at the start of the campaign.

"Any way the campaign would have gone, we could only win, we had nothing to lose," she said before the results were in.

"Seeing tonight that it is a tight race, in itself for us, it’s a win. And it shows that there is support for what the Bloc does and the issues that we’re bringing to the House of Commons."

The NDP also took heart from the tight race. The New Democrats are not usually a contender in the Montreal riding of LaSalle—Émard—Verdun, but their candidate, Craig Sauvé, jockeyed back and forth for first place with the Liberals and Bloc all night.

"If the NDP is competitive in Montreal we're going to win seats in Montreal, we're going to have great candidates in Montreal, and Montrealers are going to see more NDP MPs at the next election," Sauvé told his supporters earlier in the night.

Montrealer Graham Juneau said that despite all the campaigning, he and many of his friends are "relatively disengaged."

He opted to vote for no one, to make a point about “a lack of confidence in the political establishment in Canada."

"At least amongst my peers, there hasn’t been a groundswell of enthusiasm for any of the particular parties," he said.

NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh is keen to leapfrog the Liberals and position himself as the only viable, progressive alternative to Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives.

He and his candidate, Leila Dance, managed to fend off the Conservatives' aggressive campaign in Winnipeg.

Political watchers had a keen eye on the results to see if the Tories could sway traditional NDP voters on issues related to labour and affordability.

The NDP won the night with 48.1 per cent of the vote. But Conservative candidate Colin Reynolds managed to grow the Tories' share of the vote from 28 per cent in the 2021 general election to 44 per cent in Monday's byelection.

With several polls still to be counted, Reynolds conceded defeat and told his volunteers that they should be proud of what the Conservatives accomplished in the campaign.

Singh took a political gamble on signing a pact with Trudeau in 2022 to prevent an early election in exchange for progress on NDP priorities.

While that deal has yielded a national dental care program, legislation to ban replacement workers and a bill that would underpin a future pharmacare program, the results haven't translated to gains in the national polls.

Singh pulled out of that deal just weeks ago in a bid to distance his party from the Liberals and try to make the next election a two-way race between himself and Poilievre.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.

Laura Osman, Maura Forrest, Steve Lambert and Michel Saba, The Canadian Press

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Justin Trudeau

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Introduction

(born 1971). As leader of the Liberal Party, Justin Trudeau became prime minister of Canada in 2015. He led the Liberals back to power after a decade of Conservative Party rule.

Early Life and Start in Politics

Justin Pierre James Trudeau was born on December 25, 1971, in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. He was the eldest son of Pierre Trudeau , who was Canada’s prime minister at the time of Justin’s birth. Justin’s mother, Margaret, was the daughter of Canadian politician James Sinclair. After the Trudeaus divorced when Justin was six, he and his two brothers were raised by their father.

Trudeau earned a bachelor’s degree in English from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, in 1994. He received a degree in education from the University of British Columbia in 1998. Thereafter he taught high-school French and elementary-school math in Vancouver, British Columbia. In 2000, at age 28, he delivered a moving eulogy at his father’s funeral that thrust him into the national spotlight.

After returning to Quebec in 2002, Trudeau began and then abandoned engineering studies at the University of Montreal. He also pursued but did not complete a master’s degree in environmental geography at McGill. In the meantime, he worked at a Montreal radio station and had a role in the television miniseries The Great War (2007). He also was an unpaid spokesman for the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society. From 2002 to 2006 Trudeau served as chairman of the board of directors of Katimavik, the national youth volunteer organization established by his father in 1977.

In 2002, soon after Trudeau delivered his father’s eulogy, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chrétien offered him a place in the Liberal Party. Trudeau won a seat in Parliament in 2008 and was reelected in 2011, even as the Liberals as a whole were badly defeated. Youthful and charismatic, he was seen by many as the Liberals’ best hope to lead them back to prominence. In 2013 he won the party leadership, capturing nearly 80 percent of the vote.

Prime Ministership

During the 2015 federal election campaign, Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper sought to portray Trudeau as ill-prepared to lead the country. The campaign began as a close three-way race that was initially led by the New Democratic Party (NDP). As the NDP faded, the race became a contest between the Conservatives and the Liberals. Trudeau ran a strong campaign and performed well in the debates, helping the Liberals to surge ahead in opinion polls in the final weeks of the campaign. In the October 2015 election the Liberals won a decisive victory, capturing 39.5 percent of the vote and 184 seats in Parliament. The Conservatives won about 32 percent of the vote, and the NDP about 20 percent. The Liberals formed a majority government with Trudeau as prime minister.

Trudeau’s campaign had championed a number of progressive causes. Claiming that Conservative policies had unfairly benefited the wealthy, he promised to create new jobs and boost the economy for middle-class Canadians. He vowed to encourage diversity and inclusion and to improve the government’s relationship with Canada’s indigenous peoples ( First Nations , Inuit , and Métis). He also pledged to take action to fight climate change . Upon taking office, Trudeau, a self-proclaimed feminist , followed up on one of his promises by appointing 15 women to his 30-member cabinet. He proposed billions of dollars in new funding for programs to assist indigenous communities in such areas as education, health, and infrastructure. His government also promoted inclusion by welcoming tens of thousands of refugees fleeing civil war in Syria . In late 2016 Trudeau took a step to combat climate change by announcing that Canada was declaring a five-year ban on oil drilling in its Arctic waters.

Trudeau’s critics, however, argued that his policies did not always live up to his promises. Some environmentalists , for example, questioned Trudeau’s commitment to fighting climate change. They were troubled by his support of massive energy projects that would encourage the use of fossil fuels , such as the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline between Canada and the United States. Some indigenous Canadians objected to the pipeline and other energy projects because they would violate indigenous land rights. Indigenous peoples also criticized Trudeau’s government for not providing all of the funds that had been promised to their communities.

In foreign affairs, Trudeau notably clashed with U.S. President Donald Trump , who entered office in early 2017. Tensions between Canada and the United States escalated in 2018 after Trump announced a plan to impose tariffs on imports of Canadian steel and aluminum. That action threatened to start a trade war. In response, Trudeau indicated that, if necessary, Canada would reluctantly impose counter-tariffs on the United States. He added that Canadians are “polite, we’re reasonable, but we also will not be pushed around.” On Twitter , Trump accused Trudeau of having made false statements and characterized him as “dishonest & weak.” In the aftermath of the diplomatic dustup, the House of Commons unanimously passed a motion condemning Trump’s personal attacks on Trudeau. Trudeau later joined Trump and Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto in signing a proposed new trade accord, known as the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement. The proposed accord was intended to replace the 1992 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The United States subsequently lifted its tariffs on steel and aluminum from Canada in May 2019.

Also in 2019 Trudeau faced a major political crisis. Allegations surfaced that Trudeau aides had improperly pressed attorney general and justice minister Jody Wilson-Raybould to abandon the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin, a giant Quebec-based construction company. In 2015 the firm had been charged with corruption and fraud stemming from allegations that it had used bribery to win contracts from the Libyan government. In January 2019 Wilson-Raybould was reassigned as veterans affairs minister in a cabinet reshuffle. She resigned from Trudeau’s cabinet the following month. Days later she told the House of Commons justice committee that there had been a “consistent and sustained effort” to pressure her to intervene in the prosecution of SNC-Lavalin. She also testified that she had received “veiled threats” relating to the matter from the offices of the prime minister, Privy Council, and finance minister.

In August a report issued by Canadian Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner Mario Dion found that Trudeau and his staff had indeed attempted to unduly influence Wilson-Raybould in the SNC-Lavalin case. Responding to the report, Trudeau said “I take responsibility for the mistakes I have made.” He claimed, however, that his actions had been intended to prevent the loss of Canadian jobs that he said would result from legal action against SNC-Lavalin. Dion’s report threatened Trudeau and the Liberal Party’s prospects in the federal election scheduled to be held on October 21. Before that election took place, Trudeau’s reputation suffered another hit after photos emerged showing him wearing “blackface” and “brownface” makeup at several events in the 1990s and early 2000s. Trudeau repeatedly apologized for the images, saying, “It was something that I didn’t think was racist at the time, but now I recognize it was something racist to do, and I am deeply sorry.” Trudeau’s political opponents sharply criticized him over the images and accused him of lacking judgment and integrity.

In the October 2019 election the Liberal Party lost its majority in Parliament but won enough seats to form a minority government and secure a second term for Trudeau as prime minister. The Conservatives claimed 121 seats in Parliament, second to the Liberal Party’s 157, though the Conservatives narrowly edged out the Liberal Party in the popular vote. The Bloc Québécois and NDP trailed distantly, capturing 32 and 24 seats, respectively. Despite the Liberal Party’s loss of its parliamentary majority, Trudeau thanked voters for handing him a second term and vowed that his minority government would “work hard for all Canadians.”

In early 2020 the COVID-19   pandemic  began to affect Canada. The virus hit home for Trudeau when he was forced to go into brief self-isolation in March after his wife, Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau, contracted COVID-19. She soon recovered from the illness. Although the federal government was slow to stress mask-wearing and social-distancing measures, it did enact significant restrictions on travelers entering the country. It also sought to limit the economic consequences of the pandemic. It did so in part by providing monthly payments to individuals who had lost their jobs as a result of the lockdown undertaken to stem the spread of the virus.

The first wave of the pandemic began to recede in Canada during the summer of 2020. A second wave of COVID-19 cases peaked in January 2021. The Trudeau government’s rollout of its COVID-19 vaccination program got off to a slow start. Nevertheless, by mid-July about 49 percent of Canadians were fully vaccinated, and some 70 percent had received at least one dose, thus surpassing vaccination rates in the United States. With the number of reported cases and deaths from COVID-19-related causes on the decline in Canada, public opinion polling indicated widespread approval of Trudeau’s handling of the public health crisis.

Hoping to capitalize on the favorable poll ratings, Trudeau announced on August 15 that he was calling an early federal election. Among other campaign pledges, Trudeau and the Liberals promised the creation of a comprehensive child-care program and an aggressive plan to tackle climate change. Trudeau’s principal rival was Conservative Party leader Erin O’Toole, who staked out a position as a moderate. O’Toole and other opposition candidates accused Trudeau of endangering the lives of Canadians by holding a snap election at a time when a new variant of the coronavirus that caused COVID-19, the so-called Delta variant, was sweeping the country. Meanwhile, Trudeau attacked O’Toole for his advocacy of a voluntary response to the virus based on frequent testing rather than vaccination.

The election was held on September 20. Relatively early on election night, the media was able to project that the Liberals would fall short of a majority in Parliament. Once again, however, the Liberals were poised to form a minority government with Trudeau as prime minister.

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Canada's Justin Trudeau Introduced Law To Imprison Anyone Who Ever Posted Hate Speech?

Canada's proposed online arms act was described as "orwellian" by some social media users., nick hardinges, published may 14, 2024.

On May 7, 2024, an X user claimed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government had introduced a new "Orwellian" law called the Online Harms Bill C-63 that would allow police to arrest people for posting hate speech online, even if the offense took place before the legislation existed.

The user wrote:

The Trudeau regime has introduced an Orwellian new law called the Online Harms Bill C-63, which will give police the power to retroactively search the Internet for "hate speech" violations and arrest offenders, even if the offence occurred before the law existed. This new bill is aimed at safeguarding the masses from so-called "hate speech."

The post referenced articles by two conservative news outlets, Revolver News and The People's Voice , that also discussed the claim.

Similar posts appeared all over X , where one user declared: "WTF." The platform's owner, Elon Musk , added: "This sounds insane if accurate!"

Examples  also emerged on Facebook , while Musk's and the original X user's posts had amassed more than 140 millions views combined, at the time of this writing.

Snopes looked into the legislation to see whether there was any evidence police would have the power to retroactively arrest people for posting hate speech prior to the bill's implementation.

What Do We Know About the Bill?

Canada's ruling Liberal Party unveiled proposed legislation called  Bill C-63  on Feb. 26, 2024.

A government media release said the bill would create an Online Harms Act that would "hold social media platforms accountable for addressing harmful content on their platforms and for creating a safer online space that protects all people in Canada, especially kids … and better safeguard everyone in Canada from online hate."

The proposals specifically target seven types of harmful content: 

• Content that sexually victimizes a child or revictimizes a survivor.
• Intimate content communicated without consent.
• Content used to bully a child.
• Content that induces a child to harm themself.
• Content that foments hatred.
• Content that incites violence.
• Content that incites violent extremism or terrorism.

Under the act, social media companies would be subject to three duties: acting responsibly, protecting children, and making certain content inaccessible — such as content that sexually victimizes a child or revictimizes a survivor, or intimate images posted without consent

The legislation would also establish a Digital Safety Commission, which would oversee and enforce new regulations on hate speech and the protection of children, and a digital safety ombudsperson, who "would act as a resource and advocate for users and victims." Both would be supported by a Digital Safety Office.

Importantly, the media release showed it would be the commission that enforces the laws, not the police.

In addition, Bill C-63 — which was not legally enforceable at the time of this writing as it had not yet received royal assent, the monarch's formal approval of legislation — proposed changes to Canada's Criminal Code and the Canadian Human Rights Act that would "better combat hate speech and hate crimes, provide improved remedies for victims and hold individuals accountable for the hatred they spread."

It would also increase the maximum sentences for illegal hate speech and allow Canadians to report such incidents to a human-rights tribunal. If successful, victims could be compensated up to CA$20,000, and fines of up to CA$50,000 could be levied.

What Is Unclear in the Bill?

Snopes found no evidence in Bill C-63 to support the claim the police would have the power to arrest someone if they found that person had posted hate speech online before the legislation's implementation.

However, text in section 41 of the bill, which listed proposed amendments to the CHRA, was somewhat unclear. It said if the person or panel conducting a Digital Safety Commission inquiry into discriminatory practice, such as hate speech, upholds a complaint, they may order the accused to pay a penalty of up to CA$50,000 to the government if the member or panel considers it appropriate with regard to:

• The nature, circumstances, extent and gravity of the discriminatory practice.
• The wilfulness or intent of that person.
• Any prior discriminatory practices that the accused has engaged in.
• The accused's ability to pay the penalty.

The proposed bill did not define whether "prior discriminatory practices" would include offenses that took place before the legislation was implemented. However, the clause about "prior discriminatory practices" appeared to be relevant only if someone had a new complaint filed against them. 

Snopes contacted the Canadian government for clarity on this and numerous other matters relating to the Bill and will update this article if we receive a response.

Another fact-checking outlet also addressed the claims about retroactive punishments for hate speech, finding that the focus was on continuous  hate speech.

Bill C-63 is available in full below:

(House of Commons Canada)

What Did the Bill's Opponents Say?

Some individuals and civil-rights groups condemned the legislation, branding it an attack on free speech.

Snopes spoke to the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, which  opposes the bill  in its current form, and asked whether the legislation would allow the police to imprison anyone who has ever posted hate speech online.

The group said any such claims were inaccurate. Anaïs Bussières McNicoll, director of the CCLA's Fundamental Freedoms Program, told Snopes:

The general rule under Canadian law is that statutes are not to be construed as having retroactive effect unless such a construction is expressly or by necessary implication required by the language of the law. Part 2 of Bill C-63 does propose some amendments to the Criminal Code with respect to hate crimes, but nothing indicates that these amendments would have a retroactive effect.

However, McNicoll explained that a different part of the bill would amend the Canadian Human Rights Act further as to which hate speech communicated online would be considered "discriminatory." She said the text in part 3 of section 34 "is not clear."

One can read it as implying a retroactive effect, although that is not explicitly mentioned. In any event, that section does not relate to criminal proceedings, but human rights legislation.

McNicoll concluded by saying the CCLA did not believe the amendments being considered under the bill should be enforced retroactively if it is granted royal assent.

Government Bill (House of Commons) C-63 (44-1) - First Reading - An Act to Enact the Online Harms Act, to Amend the Criminal Code, the Canadian Human Rights Act and An Act Respecting the Mandatory Reporting of Internet Child Pornography by Persons Who Provide an Internet Service and to Make Consequential and Related Amendments to Other Acts - Parliament of Canada . https://www.parl.ca/documentviewer/en/44-1/bill/C-63/first-reading. Accessed 14 May 2024.

Heritage, Canadian. Proposed Bill to Address Online Harms . 26 Feb. 2024, https://www.canada.ca/en/canadian-heritage/services/online-harms.html.

McNicoll, Anaïs Bussières. 'Online Harms Act (Bill C-63): CCLA Joins Civil Society Call to Separate Parts Two and Three from the Bill'. CCLA , 8 May 2024, https://ccla.org/criminal-justice/online-harms-act-bill-c-63-ccla-joins-civil-society-call-to-separate-parts-two-and-three-from-the-bill/.

Wong, Adrian, Dr. 'Will Bill C-63 jail those who ever posted hate speech online?!' TechARP . 8 May 2024, https://www.techarp.com/crime/bill-c-63-jail-hate-speech-online/. Accessed 14 May 2023.

By Nick Hardinges

Nick Hardinges is a London-based reporter who previously worked as a fact-checker at Reuters.

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