Trudeau laments he can’t just go shopping anymore in P.E.I. radio interview

FILE: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau (Photo by Mohammad Jangda/Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0)

CHARLOTTETOWN — Justin Trudeau says one of the challenges of being prime minister is not being able to pop into a Canadian Tire for a screwdriver or grab a double-double at Tim Hortons without “causing a bit of a kerfuffle.”

In an off-the-cuff radio interview in P.E.I. that touched on shopping, sports, fashion and TV dramas, Trudeau said it’s hard for him to partake in these commonplace and quintessentially Canadian outings.

Being the head of the Canadian government comes with “amazing things but a certain awkwardness in stopping in for a double-double,” Trudeau said in an interview with Charlottetown’s Ocean 100 radio host Kerri Wynne MacLeod.

“The level of kerfuffle — there are flashing lights in the street right now — around a PM can go to your head or you can take it the wrong way,” he said. “The only way to make sense of it is there is no way all of this is for just one guy. It’s for the office.”

Later today, Trudeau will be presented with a Symons Medal for his contribution to Canadian life and deliver a lecture at the Confederation Centre of the Arts in Charlottetown.

“It’s a great honour. I was surprised to see I’m the first sitting prime minister to ever receive it,” he said.

“This opportunity to talk about the state of the Confederation, particularly on our 150th anniversary since Confederation, is quite frankly something I’m very, very exited about.”

Meanwhile, the 23rd prime minister of Canada said he stays grounded by “finding moments where I can just hang out with friends and be chill,” including shooting pool.

Trudeau also divulged that “like in any good marriage” his wife decides the television shows they watch together, which lately has been a combination of “Outlander” on Netflix and the new season of “Grey’s Anatomy.”

The prime minister caused a flurry of excitement on the Island recently when he was spotted sporting P.E.I.-made sunglasses, Fellow Earthlings eyewear, on a recent trip Vietnam.

A photo snapped of Trudeau stepping off the plane shows him adjusting the vintage leather-covered aviator-style sunglasses, a model called the Canadian.

“I never imagined people would connect on those little details. They’re absolutely gorgeous, I love them,” he said.

“I get nothing but compliments on them and they’re from right here in P.E.I. They’re just slick.”

The 45-year-old also weighed in on this weekend’s Grey Cup final between the Calgary Stampeders and the Toronto Argonauts in Ottawa, which he plans to attend with his family.

“I’m bringing the kids and Sophie has agreed to come as well, which is always a bonus,” he said. “Unfortunately, my beloved (Montreal) Alouettes aren’t in it, but the Argos and the Stamps will give a great game. I hope for a really close game.”

After Trudeau’s speech and a question and answer session in Charlottetown, the prime minister will head to eastern Newfoundland to meet with a local Liberal candidate in Clarenville.

Trudeau is expected to be in Goose Bay on Friday to apologize to former students of residential schools in Newfoundland and Labrador.

They were left out of a compensation package and a national apology in 2008 by former prime minister Stephen Harper.

His Conservative government argued that Ottawa did not oversee those schools.