Canada

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

Quebec MP Justin Trudeau in Toronto on Friday, September 28, 2012. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Michelle Siu

Justin Trudeau is off and running to lead the federal Liberals, determined to breathe new life into a party he says has lost touch with middle-class Canadians.

Hundreds of supporters in his riding of Papineau cheered as the 40-year-old Montreal MP confirmed his leadership ambitions, easily among the worst-kept political secrets in Canada.

"I love this great country; I want to spend my life serving it," Trudeau said.

"This is why tonight I am offering myself for the leadership of the Liberal party of Canada."

Trudeau, the eldest son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau, says he wants to reconnect the Liberal party with the ordinary people who gave it life.

A school teacher before jumping into politics in 2008, Trudeau has long been seen by his critics, many of them fellow Liberals, as little more than a pretty face.

On Wednesday, he'll embark on a cross-Canada tour designed in part to prove he's more than just his famous father's telegenic offspring.

Trudeau will visit Calgary, a Liberal wasteland since his father's hated National Energy Program, and Richmond, BC, before attending a rally Thursday in Mississauga, Ont.