Tom Thomson … Emily Carr … Lawren Harris … Jean-Paul Riopelle … Alex Colville … Justin Trudeau …

Justin Trudeau?

While it is highly unlikely that the 23rd Prime Minister of Canada will ever stand with the artistic greats of this country, he does, all the same, draw. And well enough that the Winnipeg-based Canadian Museum for Human Rights believes – and fervently hopes – that it can sell his work at a premium to an online bidder.

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Last March, seven months before Mr. Trudeau won the federal election and formed a Liberal government, he drew an admirable amateur's sketch of the modernistic museum following a brief visit to Winnipeg. That ink-and-watercolour drawing was turned into a postcard fundraiser for the party, and now has been donated to the Friends of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights to be auctioned off.

The Friends will list the Prime Minister's art on eBay between Feb. 5-15 and is hoping the auction will raise "as much as we possibly can," says Viv Draward, the group's director of communications and marketing.

The 15-by-15-cm drawing is framed and accompanied by a quote from a speech Mr. Trudeau gave at the Lesbian Bisexual Gay Transgender Alliance (LGBTA) parade held in Montreal in August: "As Canadians, we know that protecting and promoting fundamental human rights must be an imperative for governments and individuals alike."

"That quote totally underlines what our museum is all about," says Gail Asper, the Winnipeg lawyer who spearheaded the construction of the $351-million museum.

Mr. Trudeau has often drawn for relaxation and is particularly keen on engineering structures, such as bridges. The museum, designed by renowned American architect Antoine Predock, is a unique structure that has attracted worldwide attention. In November, National Geographic Travel named Winnipeg one of the top destinations in the world for 2016, with the museum front and centre in the magazine's endorsement.

Ms. Asper approached Mr. Trudeau concerning the art, and he agreed to donate the sketch to the Friends. The money raised will be used to help pay down the $3.5-million cost of the museum's Temporary Exhibition Gallery. The Friends has had the art appraised at $2,000, and a tax receipt will be provided to the successful bidder.

It is not unusual for sitting prime ministers and presidents to indulge in the arts for relaxation. Mr. Trudeau's predecessor, Stephen Harper, played the piano and sang pop tunes in public. Former British prime minister Winston Churchill painted, as does former U.S. president Jimmy Carter.

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Mr. Trudeau's artistic bent likely comes more from his mother, Margaret, than from his father, former prime minister Pierre Trudeau. Margaret Trudeau took up photography while living at 24 Sussex Dr. and, 40 years ago this coming month, raised national eyebrows by singing an impromptu ditty about the wife of president Carlos Andrés Pérez while accompanying her husband on an official visit to Venezuela.

That Trudeau "tradition" was carried on at Ottawa City Hall on Monday, when Sophie Gregoire-Trudeau broke into song during a celebration of Martin Luther King Day.

Ms. Gregoire-Trudeau sang a song she said she had written for her daughter during a difficult time.

"But nothing will take away what's between you and me when you smile back at me," she sang to the surprise of those who gathered to remember the legendary civil-rights leader and see former prime minister Joe Clark receive a lifetime achievement award from the DreamKeepers organization.

One Toronto newspaper critic quickly observed that her decision to sing "cast serious doubt upon her musical judgment, not to mention her ability to sing in key."

Her husband would tell her that critics can be harsh. When his museum sketch first went public with the party postcard, a Vancouver newspaper advised: "Don't quit your day job."