Justin Trudeau, front runner in the Federal Liberal leadership race, is presented with a famous photograph, which was taken by former Ottawa Citizen photographer Rod MacIvor, by Belleville Police Cst. Jeff Ling at Loyalist College in Belleville, Ont. Thursday morning, Feb. 14, 2013. (JEROME LESSARDQMI Agency)

BELLEVILLE, ONT. - Like a photograph, the tears streaming down Justin Trudeau's face were worth a thousand words.

The frontrunner in the federal Liberal leadership race, who visited Loyalist College in Belleville Thursday morning, said he would have liked to “resist,” but when Belleville Police Const. Jeff Ling presented him with a framed copy of former Ottawa Citizen news photographer Rod MacIvor's famous “PET” photo, the young politician broke into tears.

The famous black-and-white image was taken at 24 Sussex Dr. in Ottawa in 1973 and shows Pierre Elliott Trudeau carrying son Justin like a football as an RCMP officer -- Ling's father -- salutes the colourful prime minister.