The Prime Minister revealed he’s a Jeopardy! fan, and acknowledged a mentor

It’s probably fair to say that most Canadians have a memory about playing along with Jeopardy!, doing their best to outsmart the show’s contestants and its seemingly omniscient host, and it turns out the Prime Minister is one of them. Trudeau’s father, former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, didn’t believe in letting his kids watch a lot of television, with one exception: they were allowed to watch Jeopardy! after school.

“My brothers and I established a complicated system of scoring so we could actually play along; if we shouted out the answer before the contestant we got a point for that question,” Trudeau recalled. “It was a part of my life growing up and it enamored me not just with trivia, but with knowing the answers to as many things as I possibly could, a pursuit that served me well the rest of my life. I know I speak on behalf of all Canadians, Alex, when I say thank you for everything you have done and everything you continue to do.”

Trudeau also acknowledged another friend and mentor in attendance: accomplished deep-sea explorer and RCGS Honorary Vice-President Dr. Joe MacInnis. “He is someone who has taught me more about leadership than just about anyone else on this planet, alive or dead, and my relationship with him is one that I cherish above just about all others,” Trudeau said. “He taught me to explore, he taught me to dream, he taught me to test my limits, and mostly, he taught me to love every moment I am blessed to be in.” 

Watch: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau delivers remarks at the official opening

Roberta Bondar gave us an out-of-this-world gift

In 1992, when Dr. Roberta Bondar became the first Canadian woman and the first neurologist to go to space, missions were short. She spent just nine days in orbit, but during that time, she got a good look at Earth from above — and knew that she wanted to see it from the ground, too.

Now in “the Earth exploration phase of being an astronaut,” the Honorary Vice-President of the RCGS has made it her mission to share Canada with the world, “and let them know it’s not just about our passport and our Tilley hats: it’s about the energy that we have and it’s about the new ways we have of looking at things. It’s about our natural heritage, it’s about our cultural heritage. It’s about how we have growing pains the way other people have, but we deal with them in a much more respectful and dignified way, and going forward, that will be the template of how we grow this wonderful country.”

To celebrate the Society’s global impact through its expeditions and outreach, Bondar presented Geiger with a crew mission patch that flew aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-42, the first International Microgravity Laboratory Mission (IML-1) from January 22 to 30, 1992, as well as her “very limited edition” personal crew patch.