Sarah Coyne - Trudeau's daughter
Don Joyce
relationship to his daughter Sarah Coyne? Justin and Sacha did not
appear to even acknowledge her presence at the funeral. What
relationship did Trudeau have with the mother and the daughter? What
relationship did the siblings have with the sister? Why did she not
take the name Trudeau? I am curious to know.
J
Mary Campbell
It's customary for people born out of wedlock to take their mother's
surname rather than their father's.
As for Sarah's relationship with her father and brothers, these are things
that people simply don't know. I would imagine that until this week, most
Canadians didn't know Sarah's name. We don't know much about the private
lives of her brothers either.
Sarah and her mother spent some time with Trudeau in the last weeks of his
life, and we're told that he loved his daughter. We don't know anything
about the relationship between Sarah and her brothers.
It's true that they didn't appear to acknowledge her during the funeral
service and Justin didn't mention her during his eulogy. However, they're
obviously quite a bit older than her and they were brought up by their
father after their parents' divorce, so they would have felt closer to
each other and their mother in their grief than to their young sister.
Sarah has her own life with her mother and stepfather - he is Michael
Valpy, a columnist for one of the national newspapers. It's odd by the
way to read his comments on Trudeau's legacy in today's paper in light of
the fact that he is stepfather to the man's daughter (which he never
mentions).
Ironically, her mother's cousin Andrew Coyne is another well-known
newspaper columnist, completely on the opposite of the political spectrum
from Trudeau. The Coynes are a prominent Canadian family -- Grandpa Coyne
was governor of the Bank of Canada, I believe.
As for the story behind the birth, well -- there are some politics involved.
Trudeau and Deborah Coyne met through their involvement in what is called
the Meech Lake accord, an amendment to the Canadian constitution that
would have given the province of Quebec special powers. Trudeau by then
was 71 and out of public life, but he was very much against the accord and
made it known. Deborah Coyne was half his age and was at the time an aide
to Clyde Wells, the only Canadian premier who voted against the accord.
When the accord was defeated and Deborah had her child by Trudeau, a lot
of comments were made behind the scenes (but not on the front pages -
that's not the Canadian way, dontcha know).
Maria
introducing PT at a meeting at Osgoode Hall law school where she was a
student. She is a constitutional lawyer and was an advisor to Clyde Wells
(I think) during the Meech Lake Accord talks. Apparently that's where she
and Trudeau met up again. This weeks MacLean's says that their relationship
was brief. It also says that he had Sarah get to know the boys and have
them regard her as a sister. Coyne has never spoken to the media about PT
and keeps her daughter out of the public. I think that's why she does not
use the Trudeau name.
-Maria
Don Joyce <don....@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:39DB28F8...@sympatico.ca...
> What is the story behind the birth of and Trudeau's subsequent
> relationship to his daughter Sarah Coyne? Justin and Sacha did not
> appear to even acknowledge her presence at the funeral. What
> relationship did Trudeau have with the mother and the daughter? What
> relationship did the siblings have with the sister? Why did she not
> take the name Trudeau? I am curious to know.
>
> J
>
Maria
Pierre Trudeau's only daughter emerges from life of privacy to attend
funeral
By Anne Marie Owens
National Post
October 4, 2000
The only daughter of Pierre Trudeau emerged from her carefully protected
privacy yesterday to take her place alongside her siblings whose faces are
more familiar to the Canadian public.
The funeral provided the first real glimpse of Sarah Elisabeth Coyne, a
little girl with blond hair and a blue velvet dress, who has been sheltered
by her parents from the public glare ever since the announcement of her
birth nine years ago.
The news was heralded by international newspaper headlines titillated by the
prospect of the former prime minister fathering a child out of wedlock at
the age of 71.
After that initial burst of publicity, however, Sarah and her mother,
Deborah Coyne, a constitutional lawyer, returned to their life of privacy.
Sarah attended the funeral of Michel, one of her half-brothers, who died two
years ago in an avalanche in British Columbia.
Yesterday, she assumed her place as one of Mr. Trudeau's children in every
part of the service.
She sat with her mother in the family pew alongside Sacha and Justin, Mr.
Trudeau's surviving sons, and their mother, Margaret Trudeau.
She joined them in the solemn cortčge that accompanied their father's
flag-draped casket down the steps of Montreal's City Hall and on its way to
Notre Dame Basilica.
She was mentioned specifically in one of the eulogies about Mr. Trudeau's
devotion to his children and greeted warmly by politicians and foreign
dignitaries who attended the funeral.
Fidel Castro, the President of Cuba, gave her a hug. Jimmy Carter, the
former U.S. president, embraced the girl with tears in his eyes, and said,
"You're a brave girl."
Sarah lowered her head shyly, smiled and tightly clutched her mother's hand.
The girl stayed close to her mother throughout the service and had no
interaction with Mr. Trudeau's other children. Through it all, the two
families were beside each other, and yet always a small distance apart.
But what has emerged in this rare public foray of Mr. Trudeau's other family
is that the former prime minister, who never talked publicly about his
daughter and was chosen to father the child primarily because of his
intellectual ability, kept up a close relationship with the girl.
"He loved her. That much says it all," said Joyce Fairbairn, a Liberal
Senator and Trudeau family friend.
Shortly after the baby was born, neighbours remember seeing Mr. Trudeau
pushing a pram along the street in the east end of Ottawa, where Ms. Coyne
lived at the time.
She was 36, single, and working as a constitutional advisor to Clyde Wells,
the then-premier of Newfoundland and a close political ally of Mr. Trudeau.
Sarah was born on May 5, 1991, in St. John's. The news became public four
months later, after a copy of the girl's birth certificate, naming her
famous father, was leaked to the media.
Ms. Coyne refused comment as reporters pressed her for details of the baby's
birth. "I don't talk about my private life in public," she said.
The Daily Telegraph headline said, "Trudeau, 71, father of illegitimate
girl," and much was made, in the media coverage, of Mr. Trudeau's virility.
In Canada, there was even some speculation about the political undercurrent
behind the relationship between Ms. Coyne and Mr. Trudeau, since Mr. Wells
was responsible for scuttling the Meech Lake accord, a proposal Mr. Trudeau
openly undermined.
Ms. Coyne comes from a long line of Liberal party members, including James
E. Coyne, a former governor of the Bank of Canada in John Diefenbaker's era.
Ms. Coyne first came into contact with Mr. Trudeau in 1979, when she was a
student at Osgoode Hall Law school in Toronto, and she was photographed
presenting him with a gift of several hockey sweaters.
She went on to study international relations at Oxford University, taught at
the University of Toronto, and practised law in Toronto. She helped John
Turner successfully run for the Liberal leadership and, while Mr. Turner was
prime minister, she worked in his office. She also worked as a researcher
with the federal Liberal caucus.
She now works with the Immigration and Refugee Board and lives in Ottawa
with Sarah and the girl's younger brother, Matthew.
When she lived in Toronto, with her then-husband Michael Valpy, of the Globe
and Mail, Mr. Trudeau visited the girl every few weeks, and was often seen
walking around Toronto's Annex neighbourhood with his young daughter.
Mr. Carter met up with Sarah and Mr. Trudeau during a visit to Niagara
Falls, when the former president was celebrating his 50th wedding
anniversary.
Those who know her describe the child as a sparkling little girl with a
strong sense of herself.
She travelled to Montreal to visit her ailing father in the last months of
his life.
David Migicovsky
>A 'brave girl' in a blue velvet dress pays her respects
>Pierre Trudeau's only daughter emerges from life of privacy to attend
>funeral
>By Anne Marie Owens
>National Post
>October 4, 2000
>
Didn't anyone tell you, Maria? Herr Madison-Clark doesn't want these posts
here.
>>David ========>
--
David Migicovsky, Evil Overlord of ACF
Our new ad-free home: A_C_F-s...@topica.com
d m i g i c o v at n e w s c e n e dot c o m
Maria
David Migicovsky <dmig...@ihavenoname.com.see.sig> wrote in message
news:8FC3C9B5Cdmigi...@63.209.170.206...
> Maria spread those long luscious legs and gave birth to...
>
> >Pierre Trudeau's only daughter emerges from life of privacy to attend
> >funeral
> >By Anne Marie Owens
> >National Post
> >October 4, 2000
> >
>
> here.
>
> >>David ========>
>
-Maria