Growing up in the public eye
1971: Born Dec. 25, Ottawa.
1973: Brother Alexandre born Dec. 25.
1974: Mother, Margaret Trudeau, hospitalized in Montreal for mental breakdown.
1975: Brother Michel born Oct. 2.
1976: Enters Rockcliffe Park Public School, which his mother had attended for two years while her father was an MP.
1977: Pierre and Margaret Trudeau agree to separate, with the prime minister keeping custody of the boys.
1979: Pierre and boys move to the opposition leader’s residence at Stornoway after the Liberals lose a May election to Joe Clark’s Progressive Conservatives. Margaret publishes her memoir, Beyond Reason. Margaret and Pierre each buy a home.
1980: Pierre Trudeau re-elected as prime minister and moves with boys back to 24 Sussex Dr.
1981: Justin travels with Margaret to attend wedding celebrations for Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer.
1983: Margaret meets Fried Kemper in Mont-Tremblant, Que. He moves into her Ottawa home.
1983: Justin travels with his father to Commonwealth heads of government meeting in New Delhi.
1984: Pierre Trudeau announces his resignation from politics. He and the boys move to Montreal. Justin begins the equivalent of Grade 7 at the Jesuit Collège Jean-deBrébeuf. After Margaret becomes pregnant, Pierre agrees to a divorce. Shortly afterwards, Margaret and Kemper marry. Justin’s half-brother Kyle is born in November. Over the next several years, the Trudeau family’s public profile is much diminished.
1991: Justin Trudeau, 19, enrols at McGill University in Montreal.