Two Quebec filmmakers say moviegoers will have an opportunity to see Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau “unfiltered and unrestrained” in a movie by the provocative title of God Save Justin Trudeau: The Art of Politics in the 21st Century.
The French-language movie by award-winning documentary filmmakers Éric Ruel and Guylaine Maroist is premiering in Montreal on Nov. 18.
In a joint telephone interview with CBC News, the filmmakers said the film captures the drama of a 2012 charity boxing match between Trudeau and suspended Senator Patrick Brazeau — a fight known in Ottawa circles as the “Thrilla on the Hilla” — from four separate camera angles.
Maroist said they were seized with the idea that this boxing match was a “metaphor” for the larger political arena and the state of Canadian politics.
“It was a symbol of the fight between the Liberals and the Conservatives,” Maroist said from their Montreal office on Thursday.
The film chronicles the two men for a period of three months from the time they began training for the boxing match to the now infamous fight which Trudeau won on March 31, 2012, just over a year before he was chosen to lead the Liberal Party.
Ruel said Canadians will find the film relevant now that Trudeau is seeking “the highest office in the land,” because he gave them unprecedented access, resulting in numerous hours of one-on-one filming.
“We can see Mr. Trudeau unfiltered and unrestrained.”
The film also features an interview with Brazeau in his Senate office.
Ruel said Brazeau recounted for the cameras his journey from “modest” beginnings to “working in bars” and “picking garbage around Parliament Hill,” to his appointment to the Senate.
“That was really something,” Ruel said of their interview with Brazeau who was later suspended from the Senate over ineligible expenses.
A request to Brazeau for comment about his role in the film went unanswered on Thursday.
A spokeswoman for Trudeau confirmed the Liberal leader “co-operated” with the filmmakers leading up to the fight but noted neither he nor the Liberal Party was involved with the making of the movie.
“Neither he nor the office has had involvement in the production or final product,” Kate Purchase told CBC News in an email.
Purchase also confirmed Trudeau recently saw the film but said he had “no comment.”
“The title is certainly creative,” she said.
Hurt or help Trudeau?
The filmmakers said they picked the controversial title because “it has many levels of interpretations.”
For one, it stirs up passions in those who love the monarchy as well as with those, the majority in Quebec, who would prefer to see Canada sever all ties to it.
Trudeau, who is mockingly referred to in Quebec as le dauphin — French for the eldest son of a King of France and heir apparent to the throne — is symbolic of the monarchy in this country, said Maroist.
“If we have monarchy in Canada, it’s the Trudeau family.”
Ruel said the idea for the title was also born out of the Liberal leadership race and the numerous polls that have put Trudeau ahead of the ruling Conservatives despite a perceived lack of policy on the Liberal leader’s part.
“Mr. Trudeau is really, for the members of the Liberal Party, a saviour. But there are a lot of questions that still need to be answered, for this to be believed by the population.”
“There is a lot of reflection to be done by Canadians,” Ruel said.
In the 90-second movie trailer, Trudeau is heard saying “it’s because I know that I’ll be good at politics, that I’ve chosen to go into politics. The lyrics of God Save The King are heard over video of Trudeau making his way to the boxing ring amid cheers from the crowd.
“It’s not just a matter of whether we’ll win the fight or not, it’s a question of how we’ll win the fight,” Trudeau is heard saying.
The trailer ends with with fireworks erupting over Parliament Hill.
The film is branded as: “Not a boxing movie. Nor an authorized biography.” The filmmakers are counting on the leading star to fire up emotions in friends and foes alike.
“The film will be received in different ways. Some people think it will hurt Mr. Trudeau, some people think it will help him,” Ruel said.
“One thing is for sure, nobody feels indifferent when they see the film.”
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“Welcome to the world, little Hadrian. 8lbs 3oz, Sophie is wonderful, Xavier and Ella-Grace couldn’t be prouder,” the Liberal leader tweeted on Feb. 28, 2014
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Trudeau and his wife Sophie’s two oldest children are Xavier James and Ella-Grace Margaret. Both are partially named after family. Xavier James is named after Trudeau’s maternal grandfather James Sinclair (the politician) and Ella-Grace Margaret is named after Trudeau’s mother Margaret and Grace Elliot, Trudeau’s paternal grandmother.
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Trudeau waves to the crowd of supporters as he holds his son Xavier and his wife Sophie Gregoire holds their daughter Ella-Grace after announcing he will seek the leadership of the party Tuesday, October 2, 2012 in Montreal. Xavier was born Oct. 18, 2007, which would have been Pierre Elliott Trudeau’s 88th birthday.
Ella-Grace was born on Feb. 5, 2009.
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Trudeau, Gregoire and their children Xavier and Ella-Grace attended a ceremony for the raising of the Gwaii Haanas legacy totem pole in Windy Bay, B.C., on August 15, 2013.
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Sophie Gregoire waves to the crowd as she arrives for her wedding to Justin Trudeau in Montreal Saturday, May 28, 2005.
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Sophie used to visit the Trudeau family home when she was a child. She was a classmate and friend of Trudeau’s youngest brother Michel, who died tragically in a B.C. avalanche in 1998. Justin and Sophie made contact again at a fundraiser in 2003 and soon after began dating. Trudeau was so smitten that he declared they would spend the rest of their lives together on the very first date.
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Justin Trudeau with friends Mathieu Walker and Allen Steverman in Shanghai in 1994.
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11-year-old Justin jumps off an old cannon while visiting a fort along with his father in the Omani town of Nizwa and Jebel.
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Then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau and 10 year-old son Justin walk toward a plane at CFB Ottawa on Nov. 7, 1982.
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Alexandre (Sacha) Trudeau delivers a right hook to his older brother Justin during a play fight in 1980 at Ottawa airport as the boys await a flight with the return of their father, then-prime minister, Pierre Trudeau. Nobody was injured. Justin was born in 1971 and Sacha in 1973 – both on Christmas day.
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March 1979 photo of the Trudeau children: Michel (front), Alexandre (Sacha) and Justin (rear).
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It was a big day for Dad, but a long day for the three Trudeau children. Left to right, Justin, Michel and Alexandre (Sacha) Trudeau attended the swearing in ceremonies of their father Pierre Elliott Trudeau as Prime Minister March 3, 1980 at Government House.
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Pierre Trudeau is saluted by RCMP Officer as he carries son Justin to Rideau Hall in 1973. Justin Trudeau teared up when he was presented with a framed copy while visiting Loyalist College in 2013.
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Trudeau was only the second child ever to be born while a parent was prime minister. The first was John A. Macdonald’s youngest daughter Margaret Mary Macdonald.
Trudeau’s younger brothers, Alexandre (Sacha) and Michel were the third and fourth.
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Prime Minister Trudeau and his then-wife Margaret leave the city’s Notre Dame Basilica Sunday afternoon after the christening of their 22-day old infant Justin Pierre James, Jan. 16, 1972. Tasseled shawls kept the baby hidden from photographers and the 10-degree-below-zero weather.
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Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, sitting on a bench in Lafayette Square across from the White House before a television interview, Washington, D.C., Oct. 24, 2013. Trudeau was on his first trip to Washington to attend a policy conference held by The Center for American Progress where he sat on a panel titled “Global Perspectives” with former Australian prime minister Julia Gillard and former U.S. secretary of state Madeleine Albright. THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Louie Palu
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Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, sitting in the lobby of the St. Regis Hotel, Washington, D.C., Oct. 24, 2013. Trudeau was on his first trip to Washington to attend a policy conference held by The Center for American Progress where he sat on a panel titled “Global Perspectives” with former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Louie Palu
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Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, sitting in the lobby of the St. Regis Hotel, Washington, D.C., Oct. 24, 2013. Trudeau was on his first trip to Washington to attend a policy conference held by The Center for American Progress where he sat on a panel titled “Global Perspectives” with former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Louie Palu
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Justin Trudeau, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, sitting in the lobby of the St. Regis Hotel, Washington, D.C., Oct. 24, 2013. Trudeau was on his first trip to Washington to attend a policy conference held by The Center for American Progress where he sat on a panel titled “Global Perspectives” with former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard and former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
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Justin Trudeau trains at Pan Am Boxing Club in Winnipeg on Friday Feb. 1, 2013.
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Justin Trudeau co. making faces.
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Justin Trudeau splits his pants while pushing the “scrum machine” in support of Prostate Cancer Canada in Toronto Thursday, July 21, 2011.
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Justin Trudeau gets his geek on at Montreal Comiccon in September 2012.
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Justin Trudeau has his moustache shaved off to raise money for the Judy LaMarsh Fund, that supports female candidates, at the Liberal Party convention in Ottawa on Saturday, January 14, 2012.
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Minister of National Defence Peter MacKay (left) is chased by Liberal MP Justin Trudeau in a motorized wheelchair during a wheelchair race relay on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on Wednesday, May 12, 2010. Twenty-five MPs and senators used a wheelchair for the day in support of the Canadian Paraplegic Association’s Spinal Cord Injury and CPA awareness month.
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Justin Trudeau all dressed up for the Montreal Movember Gala in 2010.
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Pierre Trudeau’s sons, Sacha, left, and Justin, tackle their mother’s paperboy in Ottawa in this undated photo.
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‘Nuff said.
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Alexandre (Sacha) Trudeau delivers a right hook to his older brother Justin during a play fight in 1980 at Ottawa airport as the boys await a flight with the return of their father, then-prime minister, Pierre Trudeau.
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Justin Trudeau strikes a pose with an adorable baby.
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Justin Trudeau poses with his family on his 2010 Christmas card.
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Former Liberal MP Ken Dryden, left, and Justin Trudeau play table hockey as they visit Sun Youth, a community organization, Monday, Jan. 14, 2008 in Montreal.
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Then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau, left, watches as his 11-year-old son Justin swings on a chain during a tour of an old fort in the Omani town of Nizwa Dec. 2, 1983. Trudeau and Justin spent the day visiting the towns of Jebel and Nizwa 165 kilometres south of Muscat.
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Justin Trudeau in Muskoka, Ont.
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Liberal MP Justin Trudeau, centre, has his cowbay taken by his son Xavier, 4 years-old, while his wife Sophie Gregoire, second from left, holds daughet Ella-Grace, 3 years-old, while they attend the party’s annual Stampede breakfast in Calgary, Saturday, July 7, 2012. This is the 100th anniversary of the Stampede.
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Eleven-month-old Justin Trudeau, urged on by his mother Margaret Trudeau, crawls up the steps of an aircraft in Ottawa on Dec. 5, 1972 to meet his father, then-prime minister, Pierre Trudeau on his return from Britain.
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Justin Trudeau dances with wife Sophie Grégoire before his speech at the Liberal showcase on April 6, 2013.
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Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, wearing what someone called his “Mandrake the Magician outfit,” walks down the grandstand steps to present the Grey Cup trophy to the victorious Montreal Alouettes in this Nov. 28, 1970 photo.
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Pierre Trudeau leans over to kiss an unidentified young lady to the seeming surprise of his recent bride Margaret. Trudeau and Margaret spent Saturday March 27, 1971 at maple tree farm here near Montreal at a sugaring out party.
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Pierre Trudeau accompanies Margaret Sinclair, at the annual Governor General’s skating party for members of Parliament in Ottawa Jan. 14, 1970.
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Pierre Trudeau looks through the scope of his rifle while on a seal hunting trip in Baffin Island’s Clear Water Fjord, July 29, 1968.
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Pierre Trudeau shoes off his frisbee catching style while waiting to board his plane in Vancouver May 16, 1979.
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Pierre Trudeau had no trouble keeping himself occupied during a break from a boat trip down the Northwest Territories, Nahanni River, Monday Aug. 4, 1970.
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Pierre Trudeau takes a wary look at an ice crevice, decides to chance it and makes the leap successfully during a midnight seal- hunting expedition at Clearwater Fjord in Canada’s Arctic, July 29, 1968.
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Pierre Trudeau receives a kiss from his wife Margaret during a tour of St. Pierre, France, Aug. 1971.
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Pierre Trudeau in Guayana 1974.
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Pierre Trudeau sticks his tongue out to Canadian Press Photographer Peter Bregg during the 1972 election campaign. This photo was taken aboard the campaign plane where such antics were considered off the record. The photo was not made available until after the death of the prime minister
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Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau dances in Montreal Oct. 21, 1979.
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Pierre Trudeau sprints away from a crowd of female admirers in Ottawa April 22, 1968. They surrounded him outside the Parliament Buildings on his third day in office.
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John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono, meet with Pierre Trudeau Dec. 24, 1969 in Ottawa.
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Pierre Trudeau looks on as Cuban President Fidel Castro gestures during a visit to a Havana housing project in this Jan. 27, 1976 photo.
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Pierre Trudeau pretending to strangle himself with a tie given to him as he was presented with honorary membership in the National Press Club in Ottawa Sept. 17, 1968.
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Pierre Trudeau amuses a group of people in Fortune while on tour through Newfoundland, Aug. 3, 1971.
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Pierre Trudeau takes a ride on the Bluenose, Aug. 1972.
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Pierre Trudeau works out at an Oshawa health club during a break in his 1968 election campaign.
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Pierre Trudeau, with a garland around his neck and a Hindu greeting symbol in paste on his forhead, rides a camel Jan 12, 1971 in the village of Benares, India, where he dedicated a water well.
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Pierre Trudeau kids around with a carnation while waiting for voting results at the Liberal convention in this April 7, 1968 photo.
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Pierre Trudeau tries cracking a dog sled whip while visiting Baker Lake in the Arctic, March 10, 1970.
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Saudi Arabian Oil Minister Sheik Yamani, left, and Pierre Trudeau, right, dance a traditional Arabian dance while camping out in the desert in Madein Saleh, Saudi Arabia, Nov. 18, 1980.
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Pierre Trudeau, seen here taking part in Maori ceremonial dance in Wellington, New Zealand May 13, 1970.
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Pierre Trudeau does a dance after his campaign bus broke down in Montreal June 6, 1968.
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Wearing a “feather in his cap,” Pierre Trudeau attended the official opening May 20, 1983, of an archaeological excavation in Hull, Que.
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Pierre Trudeau, shown performing his famous pirouette during a May 7, 1977, picture session at Buckingham Palace in London, England.
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Pierre Trudeau, in a moment of joy over patriation of Canada’s constitution, preformed his now famous pirouette at Uplands Airport on April 18, 1982 following the Queens’s departure for London after the 4-day state visit which climaxed with the proclamation of the Constitution Act.
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Pierre Trudeau is saluted by RCMP Officer as he carries son Justin to Rideau Hall in 1973.
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Prime Minister Trudeau and his then-wife Margaret leave the city’s Notre Dame Basilica Sunday afternoon after the christening of their 22-day old infant Justin Pierre James, Jan. 16, 1972. Tasseled shawls kept the baby hidden from photographers and the 10-degree-below-zero weather.
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March 1979 photo of the Trudeau children: Michel (front), Alexandre (Sacha) and Justin (rear).
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It was a big day for Dad, but a long day for the three Trudeau children. Left to right, Justin, Michel and Alexandre (Sacha) Trudeau attended the swearing in ceremonies of their father Pierre Elliott Trudeau as Prime Minister March 3, 1980 at Government House.
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Then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau and 10 year-old son Justin walk toward a plane at CFB Ottawa on Nov. 7, 1982.
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Then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau’s 11-year-old son Justin jumps off an old cannon while visiting a fort along with his father in the Omani town of Nizwa and Jebel.
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Justin Trudeau and friend Mathieu Walker in the Sahara desert in October, 1994.
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Justin Trudeau and friend Mathieu Walker in the Sahara desert in October, 1994.
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Justin Trudeau with friends Mathieu Walker and Allen Steverman in Shanghai in 1994.
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Justin Trudeau with friends Mathieu Walker (left) and Allen Steverman (centre) at the Great Wall of China in 1994.
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Former prime minister Pierre Trudeau (L), his son, Alexandre (Sacha), ex-wife Margaret Kemper and son Justin weep as they leave a memorial service for their son Michel in Montreal in 1998. Michel Trudeau drowned after being swept into a lake during an avalanche in British Columbia.
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Justin (left) and Alexandre (Sacha) Trudeau lean out of the funeral train to show appreciation to mourners who turned out to pay their respects to former prime minister Pierre Trudeau in Dorval, Que., Monday Oct. 2, 2000. Trudeau’s casket was moved from Ottawa to Montreal for a state funeral. ()
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Justin Trudeau is consoled by his mother Margaret after reading the eulogy for his father, former prime minister Pierre Trudeau during his state funeral in Montreal, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2000.
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Justin Trudeau delivers a eulogy for his late father Pierre Trudeau during the state funeral for the former prime minister at the Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2000. Trudeau first caught the public heartstrings in October 2000, when he delivered a moving, deeply felt eulogy for his legendary father, weaving an emotional spell from inside the cavernous Notre-Dame Basilica in Montreal.
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Justin Trudeau breaks down on his father’s casket after reading the eulogy during the state funeral for former prime minister Pierre Trudeau Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2000 in Montreal.
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Justin Trudeau gives a rose to a young girl, one of thousands of mourners who stood outside Notre-Dame Basillica in Montreal Tuesday, October 3, 2000 during a state funeral for his father, former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
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An enthusiastic Justin Trudeau talks to reporters during a news conference to promote avalanche awareness in West Vancouver Thursday Jan. 25, 2001.
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Justin Trudeau stands at the base of a mountain near the evidence of a controlled avalanche at Lake Louise, Alberta, Friday January 12, 2002.
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Trudeau with adviser and friend Gerald Butts in July 2003 at Virginia Falls, Nahanni National Park Reserve in the Northwest Territories.
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Justin Trudeau carves through a gate during a celebrity slalom race in Mont Tremblant, Que. Friday, Dec. 12, 2003. Trudeau was taking part in a 24-hour ski-a-thon for charity organized by Jacques Villeneuve and Villeneuve’s manager Craig Pollock.
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Justin Trudeau spoke to students as Sisler High School about the benefits of joining the Katimavik Project on March 9, 2004
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Justin Trudeau, son of the late prime minister Pierre Trudeau, leaves with his new bride Sophie Gregoire in his father’s 1959 Mercedes 300 SEL after their marriage ceremony in Montreal Saturday, May 28, 2005.
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Sophie Gregoire waves to the crowd as she arrives for her wedding to Justin Trudeau, son of the late prime minister Pierre Trudeau, in Montreal Saturday, May 28, 2005.
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Then-leadership candidate Stéphane Dion crosses paths with Justin Trudeau, a supporter of Gerard Kennedy, at the Liberal Leadership Convention on Nov. 30, 2006 in Montreal. The day after he won the leadership, Dion told Trudeau he needed his help and urged him to run.
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Former prime minister Jean Chretien meets Justin Trudeau at the Liberal leadership convention, Friday, Dec. 1, 2006, in Montreal.
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Justin Trudeau poses in London, Ont., on Tuesday, June 5, 2007 with a group of youth who participated in the Katimavik national youth service program that he has been actively involved in. The funny faces came from a request by a parent taking a photograph.
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Justin Trudeau raises his arms in victory after being voted in as the Liberal representative in Montreal’s Papineau riding, on April 29, 2007.
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Justin Trudeau, then Liberal candidate for the riding of Papineau, on the campaign trail with his mother, Margaret, in Montreal on Sept. 23, 2008. Trudeau snatched the riding from the Bloc Québécois by 1,189 votes.
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Liberal Justin Trudeau, then a candidate in the riding of Papineau, on the campaign trail in Montreal, Tuesday Sept. 23, 2008 with his mother, Margaret.
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Then-Liberal Leader Stephane Dion chats with Justin Trudeau in Vancouver before boarding the campaign plane to fly to Ontario, Oct. 7, 2008.
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Justin Trudeau apologizes for swearing at Environment Minister Peter Kent in the House of Commons Dec. 14, 2011.
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Justin Trudeau poses in this official photo for his boxing match with Senator Patrick Brazeau.
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Senator Patrick Brazeau, right, and Liberal MP Justin Trudeau take part in a weigh-in for a upcoming boxing match Wednesday March 28, 2012.
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Senator Patrick Brazeau, right, and Liberal MP Justin Trudeau take part in a weigh-in for a upcoming boxing match Wednesday March 28, 2012, in Ottawa.
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Liberal MP Justin Trudeau, left, fights Senator Patrick Brazeau during charity boxing match for cancer research Saturday, March 31, 2012 in Ottawa.
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Senator Patrick Brazeau, right, and Liberal MP Justin Trudeau take part in a charity boxing match for cancer research Saturday, March 31, 2012 in Ottawa .
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Liberal MP Justin Trudeau celebrates after he defeated Senator Patrick Brazeau during charity boxing match for cancer research Saturday, March 31, 2012 in Ottawa .
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Liberal MP Justin Trudeau kisses his wife Sophie Grégoire after winning a boxing match against Senator Patrick Brazeau on Saturday, March 31, 2012 in Ottawa.
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Liberal MPs, including Justin Trudeau, look on as Senator Patrick Brazeau holds a Liberal hockey sweater on Parliament Hill Ottawa, Monday April 2, 2012.
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Liberal MP Justin Trudeau trims the end of Senator Patrick Brazeau’s pony tail out of respect in the Foyer of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill Ottawa, Monday April 2, 2012.
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Liberal MP Justin Trudeau announces he will seek the leadership of the party at a news conference, Tuesday, October 2, 2012 in Montreal.
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Liberal MP Justin Trudeau waves to the crowd of supporters as he holds his son Xavier and his wife Sophie Gregoire holds their daughter Ella-Grace after announcing he will seek the leadership of the party Tuesday, October 2, 2012 in Montreal.
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Justin Trudeau, right, chats to his chief advisor Gerald Butts after taking part in the the Liberal leadership debate in Mississauga, Ont., on Saturday, February 16, 2013.
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Marc Garneau, left, and Justin Trudeau take part in the Liberal leadership debate in Mississauga, Ont., on Feb. 16, 2013.
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