Canadian premier Trudeau welcomed to Scotland
● Canadian PM honoured by Edinburgh University
Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau and his family flew into Edinburgh yesterday. Trudeau was awarded an honorary degree at Edinburgh University and met the Queen ahead of next week’s Hamburg G20 summit
For most world leaders, publicly attempting a Scottish accent within hours of arriving on your first official visit would be rightly seen as fraught with diplomatic risks. But if anyone could pull it off, it was Justin Trudeau.
The Canadian prime minister used an address to graduates at the University of Edinburgh to pay tribute to his Scottish roots, revealing how his great-grandfather had decided to cross the Atlantic after a brush with the law.
He told students that James George Sinclair, a schoolteacher and “passionate fisherman” originally from Wick, had left Scotland for Canada in the hope of being allowed to pursue his hobby without attracting attention from the police.
“Unfortunately, back then there were rules around who can fish in which streams,” he said. “And about the fourth or fifth time the local constable caught him, and threatened to throw him in jail if he caught him once again fishing in the laird’s stream, as family lore has it, my great grandfather says, ‘But if I cannae fish, I canna live!’”
To laughter from the audience, he added: “So he went home, unrolled his schoolhouse maps, looks at a big map of Canada, pointed to a spot on the west coast of the country, and says, ‘There! British Columbia, where we can be free and no man owns the fish’.”
The Canadian leader spoke during a graduation ceremony at the university’s Mcewan Hall, where he was awarded an honorary degree – Doctor honoris causa – in recognition of his commitment to equality and diversity, before going on a walkabout in the city centre.
Later he had a private meeting with the Queen at the Palace of Holyroodhouse. Ahead of his visit, he said he wanted to honour the monarch’s “commitment to public service”, which he said had “long inspired me and many other Canadians”.
The 45-year-old, who decided to visit Scotland on his way to the G20 summit in Hamburg later this week, was elected as the second-youngest prime minister in Canada’s history two years ago.
During his speech to students – which he partly gave in French – he praised the close links between the two countries, saying that around 15 per cent of Canadians could trace their ancestry to Scotland.
Mr Trudeau told graduates from the university’s School of Social and Political Science to be “the best version of yourselves”, adding: “We need you. The world needs you.”
He said: “If it excites you a lot and scares you a little, then you should probably do it. Be bold, be brave, be open to the incredible opportunities in front of you.”
The Canadian leader’s impression of his great-grand- father also went down well with social media users. “Anyone else feel slightly giggly and weak-kneed about Justin Trudeau speaking in an attempted Scottish accent?” wrote Kandice Wood.