When Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his cabinet ministers descended on Nanaimo last week, one local teenager’s patience paid off.
Sarah Lewis, 14, stood outside the Vancouver Island Conference Centre for 21 hours over a three-day period and ended up meeting and getting photos with the Prime Minister Trudeau three times as well as every single cabinet minister in attendance.
“It was a dream,” Lewis said. “Getting pictures with all them was something I didn’t expect it so it was really awesome.”
Lewis said her first meeting with Trudeau came on Wednesday night at around 8:30 p.m., as he was leaving the conference centre and heading to his hotel.
“He gave me a handshake and kind of a hug and we got a picture,” Lewis said. “The next morning he actually recognized us and said good morning and waved and smiled directly at my mom and me. That was some kind of achievement for me, that the prime minister recognized me at least. The third time we saw him he just waved and said hello and then we took another picture.”
Lewis, who has been home-schooled but will be attending Nanaimo District Secondary School in the fall, said after hours of waiting around, she also managed to meet and take photos with 34 cabinet ministers.
“It was definitely worth it,” she said.
Lewis said meeting all the ministers was also a lot of fun and that many of them were happy to chat with her and the only federal minister she didn’t meet was Kristy Duncan, minister of science and sport, who was not in attendance. The teen said Bardish Chagger, leader of the government in the house, shared an inspiring story of how she entered politics at a young age.
“She kind of encouraged me that being young isn’t necessarily an impediment to being politically active,” Lewis said.
#Nanaimo teen Sarah Lewis managed to meet @JustinTrudeau and 34 federal cabinet ministers during their retreat last week. (Photo submitted) pic.twitter.com/GIhXlYt4II
— Nicholas M Pescod (@npescod) August 28, 2018
Lewis’s mother, Heather, said it was nice to see how many politicians stopped and took the time to engage with her daughter during the retreat. She said it was a lot of fun to stand with her daughter and was happy to be there supporting her efforts.
“This is her passion,” she said. “It is good to have smart young people interested in politics.”
Lewis said she’s become very interested in politics ever since Trudeau was elected in 2015. She said she admires the prime minister’s values and what he represents.
“He really brought politics alive for me and that is when I first became interested in it. Personally, he’s been my hero and idol,” she said. “He’s a symbol, for me, of tolerance and diversity. He’s kind of the anti-Trump in a symbolic way. He stands for progress.”
While Lewis is generally pleased about many of the things Trudeau has done as PM, his decision to purchase and ultimately move forward with the Trans Mountain pipeline project was disappointing to her.
“I still don’t approve of expanding the fossil fuel industry. I do believe in renewable energy and that we need to transfer to that quickly,” she said. “But I also watch parliament every day in the winter and I observe a lot of the political world, so I know that he has to walk that line.”
Lewis said she would like to get into politics herself someday.
“I’ve entertained aspirations towards the prime minister’s job,” she said.
nicholas.pescod@nanaimobulletin.com
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