Pierre, Justin Trudeau captured in 1973 beach photo
Sweet moment snapped by Dartmouth, N.S., lawyer on vacation
A 1973 photo snapped by a Dartmouth, N.S., lawyer is taking on a new significance in the wake of Justin Trudeau's election victory.
David Jones and his family were on vacation in Cavendish, P.E.I., 42 years ago when they found themselves staying next to the home where Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, his wife Margaret Trudeau, and their year-and-a-half-old son Justin were staying.
The Joneses are longtime Liberal supporters. David Jones's wife, Marie Jones, recalls they went to the 1968 Liberal convention to back Pierre Trudeau's bid to become leader of the party.
Little did they know they'd end up vacationing next to the prime minister — and a future prime minister — years later.
David Jones, now 88, has memory problems, but Marie Jones, 85, recalls how her husband took the photo. She was in the house taking care of her four older children while her husband went down to the beach with their young daughter, Angela.
He spotted Pierre Trudeau, then 53, with his son, Justin, at the beach and asked if he could take a photo. The elder Trudeau obliged, and David Jones captured a sunny, happy moment in time.
'A wonderful, wonderful visit'
In 2007, Margaret Trudeau recalled that trip in an interview with Charlottetown's Guardian newspaper. The family was there, along with the Queen, to mark the 100th annniversary of P.E.I. entering Confederation. She told the newspaper she remembers it as "a wonderful, wonderful visit."
The Joneses sent a framed print of the photo to the Trudeaus. Marie Jones recalls that she and her husband met Pierre Trudeau again about 10 years later, when he was in Halifax to speak at a convention.
Trudeau told them he kept the framed beach photo in his library. The Joneses have always hung onto the photo, but decided to share it in the wake of Justin Trudeau's victory.
Now, more than four decades later, Marie Jones says she is very glad Canadians have elected another Trudeau to the prime minister's office.
"I cried I was so thrilled," she said.
More photos of Pierre Trudeau and family: