Justin Trudeau Celebrates Narrow Election Victory with Wife and Kids

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau celebrated a win in a tightly contested parliamentary election on Monday night, delivering a victory speech alongside his wife, Sophie Gregoire, and their children, Xavier and Ella-Grace while their youngest son, Hadrian, was asleep at home.

"And beyond everything I want to thank my family," Trudeau, 49, said, before acknowledging his wife and kids for their support.

"Sophie: 12 years ago when we decided to be involved together in politics, it's because we wanted to defend our values, because we wanted to contribute to build a stronger Canada. And since the beginning, we did that together," he said. "Thank you."

Sophie, 46, is a former television host who met her now-husband when they were both children in Montreal. According to a 2005 article published in Maclean's, the two reconnected in June 2003, when they were assigned to co-host a charity ball. They began dating months later and were married in 2005.

In his speech Monday, Trudeau continued, "And to my children, Xavier, Ella-Grace, Hadrian — who's been sleeping for many hours already like we should all be — for working hard to build the best future, the best future for your generation and the generations coming."

His kids, he added, "remind me of this important job that we are doing together. So thank you for your patience ... as I need to do this job. Thank you for the sacrifices that you are doing."

Trudeau — who first took office in 2015 — had called for this week's election himself, hoping to win a majority of seats in order for his Liberal Party to gain sole control of the government.

But it wasn't quite the victory Trudeau hoped for, as the results showed fell short of his goal of winning the 170 seats necessary to form a majority government. Instead, the liberals will have to rely on smaller opposition parties.

Elections Canada reports that, with 99 percent of precincts reporting, Trudeau's Liberal Party has won 158 seats, compared to the 119 won by the Conservatives.

Trudeau, whose handling of the pandemic is generally supported, according to polls, nonetheless has faced ire from some Canadians for protocols enacted as a way of slowing the spread of COVID-19. Earlier this month, protesters angry with some of his pandemic policies pelted him with gravel during a campaign stop.

Trudeau later dismissed the incident to reporters on his party's campaign plane, saying, "There was little bits of gravel. It's no big deal," according to The Washington Post.

Last month, Canada announced a forthcoming policy requiring all passengers and staffers on commercial air flights in the country be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Trudeau, the son of former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, has seen his share of scandal since being elected prime minister in 2015.

In 2017, it came to light that he'd broken conflict of interest rules by vacationing at the Aga Khan's private island over Christmas. And in 2019, while he was campaigning for a second term, Trudeau faced backlash after photos of him wearing brownface — when he was in high school and also when he was working as a teacher, prior to taking office — were revealed.

"It was something that I didn't think was racist at the time, but now I recognize it was something racist to do and I am deeply sorry," Trudeau said then.