What to know
- Justin Trudeau attended the private screening of his younger brother, Alexandre’s new film.
- Alexandre, two years younger than Justin, is a filmmaker, journalist, and author.
- The youngest of the Trudeau brothers, Michel, passed away in 1998 at the age of 23.
- The Trudeau brothers also have three half siblings.
The former prime minister attended the premiere of his brother Alexandre Trudeau’s latest film, Hair of the Bear. Here’s what to know about his other siblings.
Alexandre Emmanuel Trudeau
Alexandre Emmanuel Trudeau, the middle child of the three Trudeau brothers, is a filmmaker, journalist, and author.
Trudeau made his directorial debut in 1998 with LIBERIA: THE SECRET WAR, a documentary about the Liberian civil war. As a journalist, he covered the Battle of Baghdad in 2003 with his documentary Embedded in Baghdad, and the humanitarian crisis in Sudan with 2008’s Refuge: A Film About Darfur.
His more recent works are fiction. Bitter Smoke, a thriller, was a collaboration between Trudeau and Dr. Shirley Williams, an Indigenous elder, based on the Anishnaabe legend of Windigo.
Hair of the Bear – the private screening for which Justin Trudeau attended in Toronto this week – is Trudeau’s first full-length scripted film, starring Malia Baker, Roy Dupuis, and Catherine Bérubé.
In an interview with the Montreal Gazette earlier this week, the filmmaker said he pivoted away from documentaries for two reasons: his family and his brother.
“I’m not going to do geopolitical commentary when it could reflect on Justin and lead to fights and god-knows-what,” he told the Gazette. “I just didn’t want to be in a position to be criticizing my brother, to put it simply. That, I could do in private.”
Michel Trudeau
The youngest of the three, Michel Trudeau was killed by an avalanche while skiing in British Columbia in 1998. He was 23 years old at the time.
The brothers’ aunt and uncle developed a new variety of rose – the Michel Trudeau Memorial Rose – in his memory, with all proceeds from its sale and propagation dedicated to the Canadian Avalanche Foundation.
The Trudeaus’ half siblings
The Trudeau brothers also have three half siblings: Sarah Elisabeth Coyne – from Pierre Trudeau’s relationship with Deborah Coyne; and Kyle and Alicia Kemper – from Margaret Trudeau’s second marriage.
Pierre Trudeau’s only daughter, Coyne, and her mother have maintained a distance from the public spotlight. Kyle Kemper, who lives in Florida, is a vocal critic of Canada’s Liberal party, and Alicia Kemper is a property advisor living in Dubai.
