Keynote Speaker
This year, VMUN has the great honor of having Justin Trudeau deliver a keynote address. Eldest son of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre E. Trudeau, Justin Trudeau was born on December 25, 1971. He is married to Sophie Grégoire; the couple welcomed their first child, Xavier James Trudeau on October 18, 2007 and more recently added to their family with the arrival of Ella-Grace Trudeau on February 5, 2009.
Re-Elected on May 2nd, 2011 as Member of Parliament for Papineau, Trudeau advances in his political career fighting for Canadian values, to bring forth a new perspective on the interactions between government and citizens, and to help Canada be a model for the world.
As the representative for an electoral district where close to fifty percent of voters’ mother tongue is neither English nor French, Trudeau sees Papineau’s rich cultural diversity as being at the forefront of both Canada’s evolving identity and drive to generate social justice and prosperity for all. Here, as the nationalities, religions, and languages of the world peacefully coexist, Trudeau has been inspired to work hard to empower all citizens, from all backgrounds, with better and more bountiful opportunities, along with a stronger sense of unity and shared values that will spread from coast to coast to coast. In fact, it is the day-to-day contact with these constituents that helps most with his responsibilities as Liberal Party Critic for Youth, Post Secondary Education and Amateur Sports.
Also, since arriving in Parliament, Trudeau has passionately advocated for greater political participation by Canada’s youth, while simultaneously arguing for more government action to help young Canadians become better prepared in a more competitive, globalized world. But more than just empowering young people, Trudeau pushes fellow community and political leaders to discover the importance of our youth and realize that their new ideas, opinions, and contributions are critical to Canada’s progress. Indeed, his role as Liberal Critic today flows directly from his work chairing the 2006 youth task force of the Liberal Party Renewal Commission, from his chairing from 2002 to 2006 of Katimavik, Canada’s National Youth Service program, as well as from his work as a high school teacher for five years prior to that.
Another of Trudeau’s major concerns is how we care for the planet that sustains us. In his years before politics he worked with various environmental groups dedicated to the protection of our Canadian wilderness, supplementing his activism with graduate work in environmental geography at McGill University. Trudeau believes that the Conservative doctrine of forcing a false choice between the economy and the environment is reckless and dangerous. Instead, it is increasingly obvious that a healthy economy is dependent on a healthy environment, and the two will thrive resiliently if we engage in responsible actions based on long-term thinking.
For Trudeau, investing in youth, diversity and the environment are the best ways to ensure our country’s long-term prosperity.