Clinton’s historic nomination paves way for possible Ottawa-Washington family ties

[U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton is related to Pierre Trudeau, father of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. TWITTER]

Hillary Clinton made history Tuesday when she became the first female presidential nominee of a major U.S. political party. Canada’s leader might want to congratulate his relative.

A study from 2008 said Clinton is a “distant cousin” of Pierre Trudeau, former prime minister of Canada and father of the current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Back when the study came out, Clinton was taking her first run at the Democratic Party nomination, while Trudeau had not yet become a member of Parliament. Eight years later, Clinton has secured her party’s nomination while Trudeau has become prime minister.

This means that the United States and Canada might soon be led by two distant cousins, if Clinton wins this November.

Jim Power Jr., director of marketing and sales for the New England Historic Genealogical Society, the Boston non-profit that came out with the 2008 study, confirmed to Yahoo Canada News that “no updates or revisions” of the study have been produced by the society.

Power declined comment on whether having two relatives lead both countries at once would be unprecedented in Canada-U.S. history. The society is refraining from commenting on candidates, the election or its impact, he said.

He did say it’s “probable” a revised edition of a book on the ancestry of U.S. presidents, which contained the genealogy of former president Bill Clinton but not his wife will be published after the election to include whomever is the president-elect.

The original study touted Clinton’s connection to celebrities with shared French Canadian ancestry, like Céline Dion and Angelina Jolie. But it also mentioned former Canadian prime ministers Jean Chrétien and Pierre Trudeau.

The study stressed that “most French-Canadians or descendants of French-Canadians may indeed be related to most other French Canadians to the extent of ninth to 12th cousins.”

Of course, if Clinton wins in November, it would produce another historical peculiarity: the leaders of both countries will both occupy the offices previously held by members of their immediate family, a spouse and a parent.