Justin Trudeau Went Back To The Brewery Where He Shared A Beer With Barack Obama Last Year

He even gave Obama a shout-out!
Senior Writer

He's been at this place before! Justin Trudeau and Barack Obama's beer date spot from a little more than a year ago was revisited by the prime minister. He even talked about the former U.S. President while he was at the brewery.

On June 26, Trudeau visited Big Rig Brewery in Ottawa to address Canadians and take questions from reporters.

The PM took his press conference on a field trip from its usual location at Rideau Cottage to highlight the business because it has used the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy.

During the pandemic, Big Rig Brewery has also shifted production to make hand sanitizer.

Before he talked about how the brewery has been making it through this pandemic and other COVID-19-related news from his government, he noted his previous visit to this spot.

"Last time I was here at Big Rig it was with President Obama so I'm glad to be back," Trudeau said with a smile.

That was just a little over a year ago on May 31, 2019, when the former U.S. President visited Canada's capital.

He brought Obama to the brewery in Kanata and they came together to have a beer and share some laughs.

Back then, Trudeau said on social media that it's always great to catch up with Obama.

When both leaders visited in 2019, Big Rig's events and social media manager told CBC that it was a "casual hangout" for the two.

"We closed the whole place down for them so they had some privacy," said Sophie Prescott.

The brewery got a call from the PM's office a day before the visit happened to let them know that he'd be coming with a special guest.

"They were just delighted to be able to be just two regular guys," Prescott said.

They chatted for about an hour with Trudeau ordering the Alpha Bomb IPA and Obama ordering a Canadian Amber.

"It was really just two guys kind of catching up over beer," Prescott said. "It was really just all about friendship and making up for lost time." 

Obama later endorsed Trudeau during the 2019 election.

Last week, Trudeau also took his press conference on the road and visited a stunning cafe in Quebec.

  • Senior Writer

    Lisa Belmonte (she/her) is a Senior Writer with Narcity Media. After graduating with a Bachelor of Journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), she joined the Narcity team. Lisa covers news and notices from across the country from a Canada-wide perspective. Her early coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic earned Narcity its first-ever national journalism award nomination.

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