We Day Ottawa attendees got a visit from the prime minister today, and by the end of his speech, he had them cheering for their country.
Justin Trudeau – who also happens to be the minister of youth – addressed the thousands-strong crowd at the Canadian Tire Centre in the country's capital Tuesday. His wife, Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau, was also in attendance for We Day, a day-long event filled with inspirational speeches and musical performances from celebrities, musicians, politicians and activists. And for the most part, it's a student-only event, with the kids and teens earning their entry to We Day by completing a year of community service.
The prime minister and Grégoire-Trudeau took to the stage amidst roars from the crowd. Grégoire-Trudeau spoke of her experience with eating disorders as a teen, and encouraged attendees to think about how they treat themselves.
"Ask yourself the question how are you when you are alone with yourself and nobody else in the world is watching?" she asked. "How do you treat yourself? With respect, with love with courage?"
She introduced her husband as a "man that I love deeply," and who believes "better is always possible," reiterating a line from Trudeau's victory speech.
Trudeau told the crowd We Day wasn't about them being leaders in the future: "This is about you being leaders today!"
"You are making an impact," he told the crowd. The big challenge is showing youth that each individual is powerful.
And the challenge for youth themselves will be to continue to effect change beyond We Day, Trudeau told the crowd in French.
The couple had previously helped host We Day Montreal in 2012, and Trudeau said Ottawa was his fourth We Day. This year, they took the stage alongside notable personalities including Rick Hansen, YouTube star Lilly Singh, pop-punk band Simple Plan and Kardinal Offishall among others.
When Kardinal Offishall started chanting "Trudeau, Trudeau, Trudeau," at the end of Trudeau's speech, the prime minister joined him, but chanted instead, "Canada, Canada, Canada."
Trudeau had previously had some virtual facetime with school students — his very first meeting as prime minister was a Google Hangout with classrooms from across the country.
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