Justin and his Mother, Margaret on Election Night. October 2015.
Margaret Trudeau was the hip, elegant, sultry and an always interesting first lady of Canada for eight years in the 70's. Thirty years younger than her famous husband, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, Margaret had the uncanny quality of being able to evade her husband shadow and was indeed a celebrity in her own right.
She was also a controversial figure–she smuggled drugs in the prime minister's luggage, made scantily clad appearances at Studio 54, and tore apart a quilt work made by Canadian conceptual artist Joyce Wieland that hung on the wall in the prime minister's official residence in Ottawa because it celebrated "reason over passion."
Perhaps wearied by public life and scandal, Pierre and Margaret divorced in 1983. When her youngest son, Michel, was killed in an avalanche Margaret– by her own admission– fell into a deep bipolar depression.
Year's later, Margaret opened up about her struggles with bipolar disorder. Today, she is one of Canada's leading mental health advocates.
Last year, her son, Justin, was elected Canada's prime minister. While Justin is proud to follow in his father's footsteps, it's his mother's mental health journey that is leading him toward forging an enduring public policy legacy. As he puts it, "We need to stop stigma and bring awareness and understanding."
In a recent interview with 60 Minute's Lara Logan Trudeau discusses his mother's mental illness and her advocacy.