I have always acknowledged that I come from a place of privilege, but I now need to acknowledge that that comes with a massive blind spot.

Justin Trudeau

Categorized in : Opinion

I don't read the newspapers, I don't watch the news. I figure, if something important happens, someone will tell me.

news important watches

My idea of freedom is that we should protect the rights of people to believe what their conscience dictates, but fight equally hard to protect people from having the beliefs of others imposed upon them.

fighting rights believe

You can't run a government from one single person. What instead matters is that leadership be about gathering around extraordinary individuals and getting the best out of them.

government gathering running

Ultimately, being open and respectful towards each other is much more powerful as a way to diffuse hatred and anger than, you know, layering on, you know, big walls and oppressive policies.

wall powerful hatred

People think that boxing is all about how hard you can hit your opponent. It's not. Boxing is about how hard a hit you can take and keep going.

boxing people thinking

I was a snowboard instructor, I was a bouncer in a nightclub, I was a whitewater river guide for many years. I worked as a teacher. I make no apologies for a very varied set of life experiences.

apology teacher years

I have made it clear that future candidates need to be completely understanding that they will be expected to vote pro-choice on any bills.

political choices expectations

One of the most important things in any leader or in any successful approach is to focus on connecting with people and really listening to them. We shouldn't just be saying, oh yes, the people are protesting. We need to ask them why they are protesting and try and figure out if there is something we can do to bring them in and respond to those concerns. That's not populism - that's being thoughtfully open to the fact that our citizens are allowed to have, and are even justified in having, very real concerns and questions for the people responsible for serving them.

real successful people

The way to build a strong future is by both protecting the enviro... by Justin Trudeau

The way to build a strong future is by both protecting the environment and creating good jobs.

good-job environment strong

Let's try and bring out the best in all of us and a positive vision of working together to solve big problems, to recognize that, yes, all is not right, things need to be fixed. We're better off solving things by working together than by pointing fingers at other people.

vision working-together people

Fear is a dangerous thing. Once it is sanctioned by the state there is no telling where it might lead. It is always a short path to walk from being suspicious of our fellow citizens to taking actions to restrict their liberty.

liberty path might

Connecting with Canadians isn't about what you say, it's about what you're listening to. It's about what you understand.

connecting listening

You cannot let yourself be defined by the hopes that you will fulfill the darkest wishes of your opponents.

defined opponents wish

I'm a high school teacher. I'm someone who stumbles my way through, leads with my chin in some cases, leads with my heart in all cases.

heart teacher school

The world today is a very different one. Social media, which I use as a way of connecting with people, is something that my father never got to use. I'm not worried about defending my father's legacy. I'm very much worried about what the future holds.

legacy father people

You can't be Canadian without being aware of at least one other country, the United States, 'cause it's so important to us. I think we sometimes like to think that, you know, Americans will pay attention to us from time to time, too.

important country thinking

I look at what I have as a challenge and I could list a whole bunch of different challenges. And I choose not to be daunted by any of them.

different challenges looks

There's a lotta countries that do very well at dropping bombs. There are other things that Canada actually does better than most other countries. And one of them is training people on the ground.

training country people

Every time, every time a tourist or an immigrant or a refugee shows up in another country there's a security risk.

tourists risk country

I'm constantly amazed when I talk with people in the international stage and I refer to immigrants or refugees as new Canadians. We don't even think about that. It's just what you are: you're new Canadians.

stage people thinking