Trudeau kayaks up to chat climate change with Niagara family

By News Staff

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had a busy day in Niagara Falls, Ont., on Monday.

Along with making his debut as the first sitting Prime Minister to appear on American daytime show “Live with Kelly and Ryan”, he also took to the waters to mark World Environment Day.

Aptly kitted out in a life preserver and casual shorts and t-shirt, Trudeau paddled along the Niagara river in a kayak, joined by several others.

Anne Robinson and her husband were sipping on their morning coffee in their riverside home, when they noticed police boats on the water. She called around to neighbours to find out if they knew anything about the unusual police presence. A friend soon texted her saying Trudeau was going to be kayaking past their house.

They headed out onto their back deck to catch a glimpse of him and waved as he floated by. Trudeau took it one step further, paddling right up to them for a casual kayak chat.

In a video posted by Robinson’s daughter Carrie on twitter, Trudeau is heard talking about the impact of climate change and the water levels in Lake Ontario – which have been much higher than average this year. He added jokingly “Any day I can get out on the water…we call this work you know?”

The Robinson family and neighbours in the area have been dealing with flooded basements and water logged roads thanks to lake levels that are reportedly the highest they’ve been in over a 100 years.

“When he stopped by the dock, it was very unexpected.” Robinson told CityNews. “I expressed my appreciation to him for coming and seeing the situation and hopefully there will be something that he might be able to do to help the water and lake levels subside.”

The video of their exchange has over 30 thousand likes and is closing in on 10 thousand re-tweets.

After his kayak ride, Trudeau made some strong statements about Canada’s commitment to fight climate change.

“Canada will not back down” he said, adding that nearly every country around the world is on our side.

“Business is on our side, science is on our side and together our efforts will make a difference” he said.

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