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OTTAWA — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested Wednesday that Donald Trump was propelled to the presidency in part by a sense among voters that too many citizens were not sharing in America’s prosperity.

Trudeau went further to say that his own government is seized with that same issue. With just a few words, Trudeau hinted at what could become the framework for a new Ottawa-Washington relationship, the single most important relationship Canada has in the world.

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“The fact is we’ve heard clearly from Canadians and from Americans that people want a fair shot at success,” Trudeau told 16,000 high school students gathered in the Canadian Tire Centre, the arena where the NHL’s Ottawa Senators play.

The young people were there for a WE Day rally, an event that encourages youth to engage in public service. This was Trudeau’s fifth year speaking at a WE Day event.

“People want to succeed. People want to know that themselves, that their families, that their kids, that their grandkids will be able to succeed and we need to work together to get that,” Trudeau said in his first public comments about the U.S. election. “We share a purpose, our two countries, where we want to build places where the middle class and those working hard to join it have a chance. We need governments focused on service and that’s what we’re going to keep doing.”