I was a snowboard instructor, I was a bouncer in a nightclub, I was a whitewater river guide for many years. I worked as a teacher. I make no apologies for a very varied set of life experiences.

The fact is we're always going to be interwoven with the American economy, and that's why it's important to have a good, strong, constructive relationship with whoever the American President is and whatever administration it is, whatever their priorities. We will always work constructively together. But at the same time, Canadians expect us to stand up for our own values, to make our own choices, whether it's around climate or multilateral institutions, and that's exactly what we're going to keep doing.

There will always be people who say, we should just tear things down, they simply don't work and we should just fold inward. The three of us - Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron and I - are trying to show that we can work with existing systems and that we need to make sure that they work for all citizens and that they create the freedoms and the opportunities without having to be more fearful, which the right is always pushing, or angrier, which the left seems to push.

I'm actually not in favour of decriminalizing cannabis - I'm in favour of legalizing it. Tax and regulate. It's one of the only ways to keep it out of the hands of our kids because the current war on drugs, the current model isn't working.

Business as usual doesn't work, that we're in a time where we have to rethink a lot of the basic ground rules and assumptions of our civilizations.

For me, to represent people who represent the future of Canada and the great challenges we will face over the coming decades - this is where I wanted to start. I'm a teacher; I'm a convenor; I'm a gatherer; I'm someone who reaches out to people and is deeply interested in what they have to say. And people see that I'm not faking it. I'm actually genuinely committed to this dialogue that we're opening up, and this understanding that needs to happen in order to be an effective MP.

Our shared histories and common values make us natural trading partners and we will continue to work with both the United Kingdom and the European Union as we move forward with this new decision.