One more reason to love Canada’s new prime minister- he’s proud to be a feminist

There’s been a lot of talk about Justin Trudeau, the 43-year-old Canadian politician and Leader of the Liberal Party, who was just elected as Canada’s new prime minister. Amidst the chatter, we’ve been thrilled to hear that this new world leader is a major supporter of gender equality.

As Quartz reports, just days before the election, Trudeau participated in a Toronto Star co-sponsored interview with journalist Francine Pelletier, in which Pelletier brought up the subject of feminism.

“There seems to be a lot of anger,” Pelletier said, “not just at women, but at feminism and feminists. Would you describe yourself as a feminist?”

And Trudeau’s reply made our heart’s sing.

“Yes. Yes I am a feminist,” he stated for the record. “I’m proud to be a feminist. My mom raised me to be a feminist.”

Good response, good mom.

Trudeau went on to acknowledge that his father (former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau) was  “…was a different generation, but he raised me to respect and defend everyone’s rights, and I deeply grounded my own identity in that, and I’m proud to be a feminist.”

Not only does Trudeau identify as a feminist, but he has made it clear that he will not tolerate misogyny in any form.

“The things we see online,” he said, “whether it is issues like Gamergate or video games misogyny in popular culture, it is something that we need to stand clearly against.”

We love everything Trudeau is saying, and we’re so thrilled that Canada’s new prime minister is both so supportive of gender equality and so determined to fight and vanquish misogyny.

Check out the video of the interview. The conversation about feminism starts at the 7:40 mark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KLYCcoCAT_Y

Related:

You need to hear John Oliver’s razor-sharp take on Canada’s election

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