Justin Trudeau poses with students at a Ryerson meet-and-greet event for Chrystia Freeland, the Liberal Party’s Toronto-Centre byelection candidate. (Mohamed Omar / Ryersonian Staff)
Justin Trudeau made a casual visit to a Ryerson University student residence Monday to support his party’s candidate for the Toronto-Centre byelection, Chrystia Freeland.
The Ryerson Young Liberals, a student group at the university, set up the event at the Pitman Hall cafeteria with help from organizers of Freeland’s campaign.
The federal Liberal leader answered questions from students, posed for photos and talked to reporters from media outlets such as Sun News.
Ryerson Young Liberals chose the residence cafeteria location to keep the event low-key, but also to reach out to the school’s youngest eligible voters, according to the group’s president Giulia Ilacqua.
Trudeau made his focus on young voters clear with his answers to students.
“We have a generation of young people who are more involved, informed, aware than any generation before,” Trudeau said. “They’ve just been convinced by the way politics has been over the past while, if not decades, that politics isn’t a worthy way for them to actually get involved and change the world.”
The Liberal leader added that young people are “obviously” worried about education and jobs, but said they are also concerned with issues such as climate change, entrepreneurship and copyright.
“They’re not worried about those little day-to-day issues that governments get wrapped up in,” he said. “So more of a conversation about big issues is important for us.”
Check out photos of Trudeau and Freeland meeting students below:
With files from Sarah Warne
Ryerson journalism graduate (2014) who loved The Eyeopener more than anything else at the school. Hi Ryersonian!
