Why Justin Trudeau brought his son to P.E.I.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited P.E.I. Monday to hear concerns from seniors — and spend some quality time with his son.

Trudeau visited the Milton Community Hall in the morning with his four-year-old son Hadrien in tow.

He said it was important for his youngest son to "see what daddy does" when he's away.

"It's not just that I do this job in spite of the fact that I have kids, I do this job because I have kids," Trudeau said to a group of seniors gathered at the hall.

"Being able to bring this guy along on this particular trip not only lets him see a little bit about what daddy does when I'm away as often as I am, it also gives me quality one on one time with him."

Trudeau introduced newly appointed federal Seniors Minister Filomena Tassi, but he also took the opportunity to stress the importance of family.

It's not just that I do this job in spite of the fact that I have kids, I do this job because I have kids.— Justin Trudeau

"The importance of family is really what it's all about — how we pull together as communities, how we lean on each other as friends and family members is really at the centre of what we should be doing as a society, as a country and as a world."

It's a better way to govern, he said, than to "torque up" concerns of the electorate.

"There's a lot of folks out there in politics these days who look at the fact that people have concerns, people are worried about the future, about different issues, and decide, well, one way to succeed in politics is to torque up those concerns, to exaggerate them, to make people more and more afraid and vote one way or vote another way.

"That might be the way to get elected, that's not a very good way of actually governing a country."

Tassi said some of the concerns she heard from Island seniors were affordable housing and income security.

"I'm going across the country to listen to seniors to determine what the challenges are and to talk about solutions to the issues and challenges that they face."

Trudeau and Hadrien will visit Old Home Week and attend a strawberry social at Connaught Square in Charlottetown this afternoon.

Trudeau was in Fredericton Sunday, where he met with members of the Fredericton police force following the fatal shooting of officers there.

He was last on the Island in November for the Symons lecture at the Confederation Centre of the Arts.

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