Kaplan-Myrth: Ella-Grace Trudeau, Cleo Carney — and my daughter — represent a new generation of hope

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hugs his daughter, Ella-Grace, after she introduced him on stage at the Liberal leadership convention Sunday. Photo by DAVE CHAN /AFP via Getty ImagesArticle content

On Sunday night, Ella-Grace Trudeau and Cleo Carney introduced their fathers, the outgoing prime minister and the man chosen to succeed him, at the federal Liberal leadership convention. The poise, confidence and intelligence of these young people led Mark Carney to joke to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that they should skip to the next generation.

THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Exclusive articles from Elizabeth Payne, David Pugliese, Andrew Duffy, Bruce Deachman and others. Plus, food reviews and event listings in the weekly newsletter, Ottawa, Out of Office.Unlimited online access to Ottawa Citizen and 15 news sites with one account.Ottawa Citizen ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles, including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES

Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK.

Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.

Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an Accountor

Article content

I was a plus-one, brought to the Liberal leadership convention by my daughter. She and her friend, both 16, had volunteered for Carney. My daughter was assigned calls to Newfoundland, which she undertook with pleasure. “That’s my first time voting,” she beamed, after submitting her ballot in the leadership race. She told us that she wanted to be at the convention early, to speak with ministers and MPs. She stood at the front of the room, cheered as Trudeau and candidates reiterated that Canada will always stand up for women’s reproductive rights, for 2SLGBTQ rights, for the environment, for health care. She turned to me during former prime minister Jean Chrétien’s speech, affirmed that she’d learned in her history classes about some of the events he mentioned, and was curious about others. She soaked up the electric energy of the room, and cheered when Carney was announced as the next party leader.

Article content

When the formalities ended, she made a point of shaking the hands of Chrystia Freeland and Karina Gould, thanking them for their work and for being strong role models for women in politics.

Article content

Why does this matter?

Article content

My grandmother would say in Yiddish that I am kvelling, proud of the next generation. But it isn’t that. It is a sense of urgency.

Article content

When I sit in my office and hear patients despairing about the upside-down state of the world, expressing their sense of hopelessness, I counsel people to step away from social media — X, Facebook, other platforms that are designed to embolden divisiveness, hate and rage — and I encourage them to ground themselves in real life. Whatever their political leanings, I tell my patients that to get through these tumultuous times, it is helpful to focus on what they can do in their communities, in their work, in their lives. The thing is, we cannot afford as a society to be complacent, to be apathetic or to lose hope.

Article content

My daughter understands that urgency of action. She spent hundreds of hours volunteering for our “Jabapalooza” vaccine clinics during COVID and shook with fury when the trucker convoy surrounded her middle school. She has watched every national political debate in the United States and in Canada since 2016, and has observed the radicalization of the right and left. She felt confusion and disappointment after Oct. 7, 2023, when NDP politicians she knew personally did not show up to stand beside her at memorials for the Jewish community, let alone to Holocaust remembrance events.

Article content

Mark Carney and Cleo Carney are shown last summer in London, England. Photo by Karwai Tang /WireImageArticle content

As a young girl she walked in marches for Black Lives Matter, for the environment, in the Women’s March, and in Pride (except in 2024 when it was unsafe for her). She understands the significance of the loss of reproductive rights and the loss of trans rights in the U.S. Her American cousin is in medical school in the U.S. and she knows that her cousin could be arrested for providing abortions or transgender health care. In short, she’s attuned to the general sense of foreboding expressed by adults around her, the complexity and despair of the world.

Article content

She has also witnessed firsthand the vitriol and harassment that is directed at those who step onto a public stage and understands the risk that people take by being politically active. She is intimately acquainted with the misogyny, antisemitism, anti-trans hate that was directed at our family as a result of stepping up for Ottawa, for the Jewish community, and for transgender rights. She has an inkling what Ella-Grace has been through, and what lies ahead for Cleo.

Article content

Yet, despite it all, she perseveres. That gives me hope. Ella-Grace and Cleo, my daughter, your children and grandchildren, are the ones who will pay the price if we do not work together to fight for Canada. They know it. The get it. They are Canadian. Their elbows are up. Follow their lead.

Article content

Dr. Nili Kaplan-Myrth, MD, CCFP, FCFP, PhD, is a family physician and OCDSB trustee.

Article content