Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and wife, Sophie, announce separation
Posted Aug 2, 2023 10:25 am.
Last Updated Aug 2, 2023 3:52 pm.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, have announced they are separating after 18 years of marriage.
The couple were married in Montreal on May 28, 2005 and have three children together.
The Prime Minister’s office released a statement confirming the separation.
“Sophie and the Prime Minister have signed a legal separation agreement. They have worked to ensure that all legal and ethical steps with regards to their decision to separate have been taken, and will continue to do so moving forward.
“They remain a close family and Sophie and the Prime Minister are focused on raising their kids in a safe, loving and collaborative environment. Both parents will be a constant presence in their children’s lives and Canadians can expect to often see the family together.”
The statement concludes by announcing that the family will be vacationing together next week.
The Liberals confirmed Trudeau will continue to live at Rideau Cottage and the children will primarily live there. Gregoire Trudeau has moved to another home in Ottawa but will spend time at the cottage with her children, including during Trudeau’s frequent travels.
On her Instagram page, Sophie also addressed the separation, saying the decision came after “many meaningful and difficult conversations.”
“As always, we remain a close family with deep love and respect for each other and for everything we have built and will continue to build.”
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In his 2014 memoir “Common Ground,” Trudeau explained how he was so nervous on his first date with Sophie in 2003 that he “walked into a lamp post.”
While promoting the book, he told the CBC his “high-pressured job” made it difficult to “balance family responsibilities.”
“There are times when she hates my job and she hates me for loving my job,” he said.
He dedicated the book to his wife, writing: “Dedicated to my best friend, partner, and soulmate. Thank you for all you do, and for all you are. Je t’aime, Sophie.”
Sophie, who was raised in Montreal’s Town of Mount Royal and is a former television and radio reporter, opened up about the realities of marriage in an Instagram post on their wedding anniversary in 2022.
“Together for 19 years, married for 17, we have navigated through sunny days, heavy storms, and everything in between and it ain’t over.”
“You all know I keep things honest: long-term relationships are challenging in so many ways. They demand constant work, flexibility, compromise, sacrifice, devotion, patience, effort, and so much more. None of us are perfect and so there is no perfect relationship, but love is only true when it keeps you safe, sets you free, and makes you grow. Omnia Vincit Amor.
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Trudeau also posted a note on the same anniversary.
“I knew from our very first date that you were the one, Sophie.”
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Trudeau is the second prime minister to announce a separation while in office.
His father, Pierre Trudeau, separated from wife Margaret in 1977 and the two divorced in 1984.
Kim Campbell was divorced before becoming prime minister in 1993.
Trudeau discussed being a child of divorce in his book, acknowledging it significantly affected his early life. He was five years old when his parents separated.
He said that divorce always has “casualties where children are involved” but credited his parents for doing their best to “minimize the pain and sense of loss.”
He did acknowledge it affected his self-esteem but that his parents’ efforts prevented “much of the emotional trauma that divorce can inflict on children.”
