How my photo of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau earned me a bottle of whiskey

Liberal Party of Canada Leader (and current Canadian Prime Minister) Justin Trudeau was in Kelowna a few years ago while he aimed to raise countrywide support for the Liberals.

I was working as a reporter for Capital News at the time, and I was asked to cover the story.

But I had another mission as well.

For several years, my girlfriend ( @theactiveglutton ) has been manager of Okanagan Spirits' Kelowna distillery. The owners of the distillery were planning to give Justin Trudeau a bottle of their award-winning blackcurrant liqueur, and they were hoping to get a photo of the soon-to-be Prime Minister with their product. My girlfriend asked me if I could try to get a photo of them handing Justin the bottle.

"What's in it for me?" I asked.

The Okanagan Spirits crew agreed that if I could successfully snap the desired photo, they'd reward me with a bottle of their whiskey. I accepted the challenge.

When I arrived at the event, I edged my way through the crowd to get as good of a vantage point as possible. As Justin made his way toward the stage, I saw the owners of Okanagan Spirits approaching him to hand him the bottle of liqueur. I rushed with my camera, stood on my tiptoes and tried my best to get a photo of the handoff; however, the picture didn't turn out as well as I'd hoped. It was blurry. People's heads were in the way. In my mind, it wasn't worth the bottle of whiskey I was promised. But I was determined to get a better shot.

I sat near the stage, snapped a few photos and took notes as Justin delivered a brief speech in downtown Kelowna. Once he was finished, I rushed toward one of his assistants who was holding the bottle of liqueur.

"Hey there. I need a favour," I said to Trudeau's assistant, whom I had never met before.

"A favour?" he asked.

"Yeah. That gift from Okanagan Spirits that you're holding... I need to get a photo of Justin holding it and smiling."

"Umm, I don't think that's possible. He's very busy, and after he's done greeting the crowd we'll be in a rush to get back on the bus."

"I'll be really quick... I literally need one photo."

He waited for a few seconds, then, "I'll see what I can do."

I waited as Justin spoke to several Kelowna residents and shook hundreds of hands. Finally, he said farewell and started walking quickly toward his bus. I looked anxiously over at the assistant who stood there and shrugged as if there was nothing he could do. I decided to take matters into my own hands.

"Justin!" I yelled, running toward the man who would soon be the leader of our country. "I need a photo of you."

Mr. Trudeau looked at me, slightly taken aback.

"And," I continued, "I need you to be holding this." I snatched the gifted bottle of liqueur from the assistant and handed it to Justin.

He hesitated for a moment, and I began to fear he might turn down the request, but then he held the bottle and smiled.

Here's the result:

The photo is still hung proudly in the Okanagan Spirits Kelowna distillery today, next to a photo of Prince William and Kate, who sipped Okanagan Spirits single malt whiskey during their 2016 Royal Tour of Canada.