Justin Trudeau’s path to powerpublished at 15:56 Greenwich Mean Time
Image source, ReutersJustin Trudeau gives a speech after his party won the 2015 election, making him Canadian prime minister
It was not long after Justin Trudeau was successfully elected as MP in Papineau in 2008 that he was asked about his future leadership ambitions.
“I just got hired to do a job,” Trudeau told CBC the morning after that election.
As the son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, many had already predicted the younger Trudeau’s entry onto the political stage.
It was just a few years later, after he was elected leader of the Liberal Party in 2013, that he was successful in turning his party’s fortunes around by securing a historic victory in 2015, becoming prime minister at the age of 44.
Although Trudeau managed to lead the party through two subsequent elections, making him the longest-serving leader of his G7 peers, his time in office has been bumpy.
He was involved in a number of political scandals during his tenure, including when images from previous years surfaced of him wearing so-called brownface makeup on at least three occasions, and an ethics scandal in 2020 involving a potentially large government contract for a charity that had worked with Trudeau family members.
Throughout the years the Canadian PM has also seen his popularity plummet, both within the general public and his own party.
