One St. Albert student got a happy surprise when he received a letter from Justin Trudeau in March.
Bilal Handous, a Grade 5 student at Elmer S. Gish School, has a passion for politics that prompted his mother, Aness Handous to take action. Bilal’s fascination with politics and the Trudeau family was showcased in a project he did on Pierre Trudeau for his school’s Heritage Fair in February. That same month, Aness decided to email the prime minister’s office, hoping for something that would fuel her son’s enthusiasm.
After weeks of waiting, both mother and son were shocked when Aness found a response letter in their mailbox.
“I didn’t think that we’d get a reply and a little over a month later, they had sent a reply letter in his name,” said Aness. “We’re just really excited and ecstatic to have a prime minister that cares so much about our youth and their education.”
The message in the letter is very positive. It encourages the young boy to continue studying politics.
Bilal, 10, says he first became interested in politics after watching the federal election in October.
“My mom sort of brought me into it because she made me, my brother, and my sister stay up and watch the prime minister election, and then I heard a speech and I was really inspired by it.”
After seeing how Bilal followed the election, Aness says it was like having a seed that she wanted to help grow. She was thrilled that Prime Minister Trudeau helped nurture her son’s interest by taking the time to write to him.
“They’re just a few words but they’re enough to give a child so much enthusiasm and so much more excitement about what he’s learning in school,” said Aness.
Justin Trudeau is Bilal’s favourite active politician. He enjoys that both Pierre and Justin Trudeau have been able to hold the same position in Canadian politics.
“He’s my favourite because he’s Pierre Trudeau’s son, and what they did was they’re the first prime ministers to have a father-son relationship and be prime ministers,” said Bilal.
For next year’s Heritage Fair, Bilal says he plans to stick with the Trudeaus by doing his project on Justin Trudeau. He chose Pierre this year due to the small amount of history Justin had as prime minister at the time Bilal was creating the project. He expects there will be more content on Justin Trudeau as prime minister by next year.
Bilal says he wants to be a scientist, a businessman, and a politician when he’s older. He wants to be a politician like Pierre or Justin Trudeau, as he admires both. He was overjoyed to receive a letter from one of his idols.
“When my mom told me, I cried of happiness,” said Bilal.
Bilal says his favourite part of the letter is Justin Trudeau’s signature at the bottom. He plans to frame it and keep it in his bedroom.
