Angela Merkel has been focused on the right things. She has focused on the interests of her citizens - and not just in a narrow, short-term way, but in a very thoughtful - Let's make the world a better place for future generations as well - kind of way. Whether it's about climate or migration, she's not afraid to look at the longer-term trendlines and say, OK, we need position ourselves here, even if it doesn't seem obvious - this is the direction we need to go in. People respect that in Merkel, that a politician has a vision for the long term.

So having a little more of an awareness of what's going on in the rest of the world I think is what many Canadians would hope for Americans.

I don't read the newspapers, I don't watch the news. I figure, if something important happens, someone will tell me.

We have extraordinary women running for us right across Canada, and I look forward to showing that women are needed in positions of power. And I certainly hope that, after people see how effective a cabinet with a gender parity in it is, we're going to draw even more women into politics in subsequent elections.

I'd like to see more Canadians of diverse backgrounds engaging with parties that line up with their convictions and ideologies to make sure that no party gets to run against Muslim Canadians or any other group of Canadians and demonize them.

It was difficult showing up in Grade 1 as Pierre Elliott Trudeau's son, it was difficult to become a high school teacher as Pierre Elliott Trudeau's son. That's something that I've lived with all my life. What people don't necessarily remember is that my father was an incredibly present dad as a prime minister.

You cannot let yourself be defined by the hopes that you will fulfill the darkest wishes of your opponents.