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[np_storybar title=”Highlights from an interview with Justin Trudeau” link=””]

-On whether critics are correct in suggesting he doesn’t have the experience or intellectual heft to be prime minister:

“I don’t worry too much about answering their question. I focus on doing. I was raised by a man who, you know, nobody questioned his intellect. I spent the years between 13 and 25 sitting around the kitchen table and dinner table with him talking about global issues, talking about values, talking about how to build a better world, talking about engaged citizenship, history, talking about movies, talking about just about anything.

“I have no insecurities when it comes to my own intellectual capacities and I’m not worried about proving anything. I’m worried about getting the job done.”

-On whether he’d like to distance himself from Marc “The Prince of Pot” Emery, who is being released from a U.S. prison and wants to campaign for Trudeau:

“I’m much more focused on economic opportunities for Canada, rather than the criminal justice system and issues around marijuana. But certainly if people want to tell their friends to vote for the Liberal party because we’re going to be offering a better government that’s going to respect the law and keep our kids safe, then by all means.”

-On Althia Raj’s ebook, which quoted two B.C. friends saying Trudeay wasn’t quite ready to be prime minister:

“If you’re going to ask someone whether I’m ready to be a leader … ask some of my caucus colleagues who have been through a number of different leaders over the past few years. Ask my snowboarding buddies if I’m a good snowboarder, don’t ask them if I’m going to be a good prime minister.”