Justin Trudeau Quotes

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

My father's values and vision of this country obviously form everything I have as values and ideals. But this is not the ghost of my father running for the leadership of the Liberal party. This is me.

For me, to represent people who represent the future of Canada and the great challenges we will face over the coming decades - this is where I wanted to start. I'm a teacher; I'm a convenor; I'm a gatherer; I'm someone who reaches out to people and is deeply interested in what they have to say. And people see that I'm not faking it. I'm actually genuinely committed to this dialogue that we're opening up, and this understanding that needs to happen in order to be an effective MP.

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.

I'm actually not in favour of decriminalizing cannabis - I'm in favour of legalizing it. Tax and regulate. It's one of the only ways to keep it out of the hands of our kids because the current war on drugs, the current model isn't working.

Things fell into place and there was an opportunity for fresh leadership. And - I was - I was successful.

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

So having a little more of an awareness of what's going on in the rest of the world I think is what many Canadians would hope for Americans.

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

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.

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.

Business as usual doesn't work, that we're in a time where we have to rethink a lot of the basic ground rules and assumptions of our civilizations.

Our shared histories and common values make us natural trading partners and we will continue to work with both the United Kingdom and the European Union as we move forward with this new decision.

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.

The Conservatives are demonstrating that they don't understand the importance of cultural industries, of artists, of creators, not just to Canadian identity, but to growing the economy. The fact is, investing in the stories that bind us together as a nation in both official languages, ensuring that Canadians understand each other's lives and experiences is at the heart of the mandate of the CBC.

My father taught me many things. Two of them come to mind right now: Stay true to your values. You can compromise on policies, but not your fundamental values or else you will get lost in the world of politics. The second thing is to listen to whoever you are talking to. People in your street, other politicians, company heads and workers. Learn from them.

Canada must be progressive, and Canada must be a just society.

I want my Canada back!

I've always been a youth advocate. I mean, that's been my brand, reaching out to young people. All my life, when I've dealt with youth I'd be thinking back to my own experience. Now I look at my kids and think forward.

Our country's economy is strong, diversified, and resilient.

Trade is good for the economy. Trade creates growth. The problem is that it creates growth but it does not think about distribution of the benefits of that growth.

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.

There will always be people who say, we should just tear things down, they simply don't work and we should just fold inward. The three of us - Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron and I - are trying to show that we can work with existing systems and that we need to make sure that they work for all citizens and that they create the freedoms and the opportunities without having to be more fearful, which the right is always pushing, or angrier, which the left seems to push.

The emphasis of that statement about my temptation to switch to the separatist side in Quebec was that someone who obviously loves Canada with everything he has, has been right here and fights for Canada all the time - for him to say something like that, something must be very wrong with Canada.

Canada has some very, very dark histories, from internments to turning away the St. Louis and the Komagata Maru, but none is darker than our abject failure to respect rights, the spirit and intent of the original treaties with First Nations, Métis Nation, and Inuit peoples. We have to transform that relationship.

I am, as many people are, inspired by Jack Layton's legacy and the way that he approached politics.

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.

The big frustration for me is that people are growing so cynical about politics that you see them basically shrug and say, "Oh, yeah. Who cares that Harper is shutting down debate? Who cares that he's building prisons, and everything? All the politicians are the same so why should we be outraged about one rather than the other?" And my point is Canadians need to wake up. This is not the Canada they'd recognize if they looked closely.

I was raised with pretty thick skin. And I think people are hungry for politicians who aren't afraid to say what they think and mean it.

The relationship between Canada and the United States serves as a model for the world. Our shared values, deep cultural ties, and strong integrated economies will continue to provide the basis for advancing our strong and prosperous partnership.

I'd like to see more Canadians of diverse backgrounds engaging with parties that line up with their convictions and ideologies to make sure that no party gets to run against Muslim Canadians or any other group of Canadians and demonize them.

I'm happy when people decide that they are more aligned with me and my party but they should also think about being active and aligned with the parties that disagree with me on certain issues.

Canada has no closer friend, partner, and ally than the United States. We look forward to working very closely with President-elect Trump, his administration, and with the United States Congress in the years ahead, including on issues such as trade, investment, and international peace and security.

Excluding citizens' voices from politics leads down a very bad path.

Young people are tremendously frustrated because they don't see politics as changing anything. They see it as perpetuating a system that frankly doesn't work and no matter who you vote for things don't really change. Social media is where I think a bold message will wake them up. We saw that a little bit in the Occupy movement. Over the next three years, I think young people are going to wake up and be empowered.

We're getting companies to invest in Canada, to expand their workforces, to do more R&D. I think people are looking at Canada and realizing we're a place that is building for the long term and where the world's going to be.

Canadians expect their government to make sure we're helping the people who need the help and growing the economy, and that's exactly what we're committed to do, not just with our historic investments into infrastructure that are going to create jobs while the others are focusing on cuts, but by lowering payroll taxes, by lowering EI premiums from $1.88 to $1.65, at the same time as we make sure that the people who need help are getting the help that they paid into, because they're not getting it under Stephen Harper. That's what Canadians expect from their government.

Angela Merkel has been focused on the right things. She has focused on the interests of her citizens - and not just in a narrow, short-term way, but in a very thoughtful - Let's make the world a better place for future generations as well - kind of way. Whether it's about climate or migration, she's not afraid to look at the longer-term trendlines and say, OK, we need position ourselves here, even if it doesn't seem obvious - this is the direction we need to go in. People respect that in Merkel, that a politician has a vision for the long term.

The fact is we're always going to be interwoven with the American economy, and that's why it's important to have a good, strong, constructive relationship with whoever the American President is and whatever administration it is, whatever their priorities. We will always work constructively together. But at the same time, Canadians expect us to stand up for our own values, to make our own choices, whether it's around climate or multilateral institutions, and that's exactly what we're going to keep doing.