02.22.2014 08:44 AM

What Liberals once had, what they again want

I’m here to drop off Son Two for hockey, and behold what I spot on the wall opposite the elevator: him.

Full disclosure: I worshipped this man. When I was a kid at Our Lady of Lourdes in Kingston, he came to visit our town. I lined up to shake his hand, and then I lined up again to shake his hand again.

Remembering that, looking at this, I think: it would be really hard to be his son.

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12 Comments

  1. Sezme says:

    Trudeau fils seems like a nice enough guy. I just really hate dynasties, duck-related or otherwise.

    • dave says:

      I agree, he seems like a nice guy.

      1960’s I hobnobbed a bit with Manitoba Libs. I delivered campaign paper to apartments out Portage with Tom when his brother Lloyd 1st ran for the Manitoba leg. When Pearson stepped down, I was hoping Jean Marchand would run for federal leadership, but his health did not permit it. So I sent a little ($5, I think it was) to Joe Greene’s campaign. I think about a dozen guys ran. Then, when Pierre Trudeau won, I noticed the growing Trudeau-mania, and began to distrust that stuff – the one big leader thing. In Manitoba, the provincial Libs turned way right, and several young libs opted for NDP, especially Ed Schreyer’s NDP.
      I continued to distrust and dislike the one big leader, and David Lewis, Tommy Douglas et al made it easy to support that bunch.
      When I came to BC it was easy to choose which party to support.
      I agree with most things Nathan Cullen, Jinny Sims, and Christopherson say and do…and I see scads of talent in that young Quebec NDP caucus.

      As I said, I agree JT seems a good guy, and they are marketing that side of him well.
      Starting their convention with Larry Summers, though, gives me a clue that this is the same old Libs who campaign from the left and govern from the right. Next time I tuned in another American was giving the party advice about electioneering.
      I see no reason at all for NDP to cooperate with this party in elections, although, I am sure an NDP government can work well with many Lib MPs. And if the Libs become government next year, I am sure many NDPs MP’s will be able to work with the Libs.

      But neo-trudeaumania? Not for me, folks!

  2. Sean says:

    Yep, its over. When we take the P.C. blinders off it is actually very presumptuous to assume that Canadians DON’T want a dynasty. In the alternative, I think many Canadians crave one. We’ve never had one before and deep down a lot of people are willing to try it for a little while because it will make them feel good. Monarchies have been dying for 300 years, but there is a reason they did pretty well for about 3,000 years.

    After all the negativity, hyperbole and silly platitudes, a lot of voters can’t make any sense of Canadian politics anymore. They want something cute and fun to latch onto. Does that seem crass? I don’t care, its the damn truth.

    Blowhards like Andrew Coyne will tell us how awful this is but its all the cranky, bitter old men in the media who created this odd Canadian trend.

    The only issue is Minority or Majority. The Liberals biggest challenge right now will be how to handle all the nomination battles. Its going to get messy as hell with these numbers, especially with all the soon to be former Ontario MPPs / Cabmins likely seeking a Federal nod come this summer.

  3. Steve T says:

    I know there are a lot of people (Liberals in particular) who hold P.E.T. in high regard. However, there are also a lot of people who did not particularly care for him. Me, for example.

    Justin I’m warming up to. To some extent, it’s because he and the Libs have not tried to draw much of a link between Senior and Junior. I’d recommend that approach be maintained.

  4. Brad Young says:

    Pierre Trudeau put Canada on the world map. Harper is destroying our reputation.

    I think Justin can rebuild Canada’s reputation. I have been to Europe many times, people there usually ask me if I am from the US. I say no, I’m from Canada, they’d look at me like I said Greenland.

  5. dave says:

    My dad was overseas fighting Nazis when I was young. Pierre was riding around Montreal on a motorcycle sporting a Nazi helmet. Guess how I view this man?

  6. dave says:

    He was conscripted, then expelled for lack of discipline.

  7. Houland Wolfe says:

    Warren, did you see the crowd shot of Justin Trudeau on page A8 of the Saturday Globe? It looks like Steve Paikin’s doppleganger in the lower right.

    I guess Steve won’t be hosting the leaders’ debate in the next federal campaign.

  8. dave says:

    Kaspar, I thought we were discussing Warrens’ worship for this man?

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