Justin Trudeau answers B.C. voter's widely shared Facebook letter
Casandra Effe wrote to Trudeau with top 10 things she hopes he'll do as future PM
Prime minister-designate Justin Trudeau has been busy reaching out to Canadians since his Liberal Party's majority win in Monday's federal election.
The morning after his victory, Trudeau stopped by Montreal's Jarry metro station to thank morning commuters for electing him in his Papineau riding.
Now, he's publicly answered a voter's letter outlining how she hopes Canada's soon-to-be leader will act.
Casandra Fletcher, who goes by Casandra Effe on Facebook, posted her letter to Trudeau to her Facebook page shortly after Trudeau's win.
The self-described "average, West Coast, middle-class mom voter" said she checked off a Liberal candidate's name from her ballot, but that doesn't mean she voted for Trudeau. "I voted against the alternative," she wrote.
Fletcher proceeded to give Trudeau a top 10 list of things she hopes he can achieve while prime minister. They include:
- Changing Canada's first-past-the-post electoral system.
- Rebuilding Canada's international reputation.
- Protecting the country's national resources.
- Supporting science.
Nearly 50,000 people liked Fletcher's Facebook post, and it was shared more than 43,000 times as of Saturday morning.
Trudeau takes letter 'to heart'
Trudeau responded to her letter with a public post on his Facebook page on Friday.
"I've read your letter with great interest and admiration," Trudeau wrote, adding that he takes her word "to heart."
Despite Fletcher's assertion that she "voted against the alternative" rather than for Trudeau, he thanked her for her vote "no matter the reason why you marked your ballot as you did."
Trudeau stopped short of addressing many of her comments directly and instead directed Fletcher and anyone else reading the post to his party's platform.
"I think you will find the answers to many of the questions you've asked of me in our Liberal platform, which you can find at liberal.ca/realchange," Trudeau wrote, providing the link to it.
He expressed his eagerness to start working on achieving the things laid out in the platform, but said for now, he's focused on building his cabinet.
"I hope you'll stay as engaged as you are now throughout the process — and feel free to send me another top 10 some time down the road!" he finished off.