Justin Trudeau, Liberal Boy Wizard?
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| Justin Trudeau, Liberal MP |
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| Harry Potter - as played by Daniel Radcliffe |
He'll need to cast a significant spell to enchant voters and vanquish You-Know-Who.
Bill Tieleman’s 24 hours/The Tyee column
Tuesday
June 19, 2012
By Bill Tieleman
"There
are all kinds of courage,' said Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a great deal of
bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our
friends."
- J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer's Stone
A
young man of noble parentage is called upon to fulfill an historic role.
He
is sent to learn wizardry, spells and dark arts at a special school
where only a handful of the chosen few are taught by a strange collection of
misfit magicians.
The
popular young man enters an ancient contest of strength and skill and, despite
being heavily outmatched by a tougher, bigger opponent, wins the battle.
While
at the school, a sinister and enormously powerful enemy arises to threaten the
very existence of all that is good and right.
Will
this young man emerge as the hero, defeating these forces of darkness and
vanquishing forever the snake that enables their evil deeds?
Or
will Justin Trudeau
decline the leadership of the federal Liberal Party?
More
Muggle than magic?To read some pundits, one would think the 40-year-old Member of Parliament for Papineau is the party's own Harry Potter, their only hope to battle the Lord Voldemort of Canada -- Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Yet
while former Liberal prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau's son may have cast
a spell on his party, it remains to be seen if the country can be similarly
enchanted.
Certainly
Liberals can't be blamed for seeking a hero after suffering through four
leaders with feet of clay: their last prime minister, the weak-kneed Paul
Martin; failed opposition leaders Stephane Dion and Michael Ignatieff; and now
departing interim leader Bob Rae, who will not run in next year's convention.
On
the plus side, Trudeau has the name, the excitement factor, is fluently
bilingual and easily draws media attention.
His
Twitter account
has over 136,000 followers and on Facebook
more than 44,000 "like" his page.
And
he is the Liberal Party's biggest fundraising draw, much in demand across the
country.
On
the minus side, however, Trudeau has not distinguished himself at Hogwarts
-- err, Parliament -- or before that as either a leader or an expert on
anything.
His
biggest claim to fame is winning a three-round boxing match against
Conservative Senator Patrick Brazeau that he was expected to lose badly.
Perhaps as impressive as Harry Potter's Quidditch
game victory, but far from the young wizard's greatest achievement.
And
Trudeau has proven prone to embarrassing gaffes, like when he said
Harper staying in power could convince him to vote for Quebec separation.
"And
I always say that if I ever believed Canada was really the Canada of Stephen
Harper and we were going against abortion and going against gay marriage, and
we were going backward in 10,000 different ways, maybe I'd think of wanting to
make Quebec a country," Trudeau said in a radio interview in February.
The
ill-advised comments, which surprised even his nationalist host, forced a
furious round of "I love Canada" statements from Trudeau -- and
unwanted support from Bloc Quebecois members as well as criticism from Conservative
MPs.
By
comparison, Pierre
Trudeau was an accomplished justice minister when he became
prime minister and had enjoyed a notable career as an intellectual, law
professor and editor.
Daunting
fight aheadThe Liberals have seemingly forever tried to fix structural party problems with hasty duct tape solutions -- new leaders instead of new ideas, change at the top instead of a change in approach.
Perhaps
Trudeau can both inspire confidence and use that to fundamentally alter his
party to be competitive in the 2019 election. Certainly it would take magic to
overcome both the governing Conservatives and opposition New Democrats under
Thomas Mulcair in 2015's vote.
But
with two young children at home and a life ahead of him, Trudeau may bravely
tell his friends in the party that their daunting task needs hard work from
many, not a young wizard trying to work his untested magic at the top.
.
23 comments:
Thankfully, even the NDP wouldn't take this guy.
The federal Liberals who want him as leader are living the Liberal Dream of the 1970s and early 1980s.
Justin needs to learn that politics means alot more than tugging on Daddy's coat tails.
There's something wrong with him if by this time he hasn't solidified in political depth and direction.
There will be alot wrong with the federal Liberals if they take this guy.
Heck even Hedy Fry would be worth a second look over Trudeau Junior.
Well, I don't know. At this point and time in Canada, I wouldn't blame any province wanting to separate from Harper.
BC is just going to be used as a conduit, for Harper and China to make easy access for the Enbridge pipeline and the dirty tar tankers. Everything of value in BC, has been thieved and sold.Campbell is a traitor who works for Harper. I would like BC to separate at least, until Harper is gone.
How could Justin be worse than Harper? Justin is young. I can see him pulling in the young people, who don't vote these days. BC youth don't vote because of the corruption and cheating that goes on in BC. I can really see them drawn to Justin.
I think Mulcair will win the next Federal election...That is if there is anything left of Canada, when Harper has finished destroying this country.
"BC is just going to be used as a conduit, for Harper and China to make easy access for the Enbridge pipeline and the dirty tar tankers. Everything of value in BC, has been thieved and sold.Campbell is a traitor who works for Harper."
So what does this have to do with Justin?
"I would like BC to separate at least, until Harper is gone."
Sure, that will cost alot of money, and would require a referendum, and if Mulcair wins? What happens then? Guess what even more money spend and would require a referendum.
Would be easier just to go south, work in The States until you want to come back.
How could Justin be worse than Harper? Justin is young. I can see him pulling in the young people, who don't vote these days. BC youth don't vote because of the corruption and cheating that goes on in BC. I can really see them drawn to Justin.
Yeah right. Given his left wing heritage from his Dad, might as well forget the Liberals and go for Mulcair. At least with Mulcair, there's depth and nationwide support.
Justin hails from a party that has a long tradition of corruption and cheating and patronage. The federal Liberals had patronage down to a learnable science.
Mr. Tielman:
I have had enough from your troll poster. I am out of here. Others should follow.
Good luck.
Actually Anon 7:43 - I think you are the troll!
But so long for now - come back anytime!
My goodness, the once great federal liberal party can do better than promote the lightweight as a leader.
My goodness, the once great federal liberal party can do better than promote the lightweight as a leader
Agree One great federal Liberal party is just a gooey mess.
They must be reaching to the bottom of the jar.
There has to be someone out there of the likes of Louis Ste. Laurent.
Not ready for prime time or the leadership of the all out pork-fest party imo. We just need a few seats from these clowns to send the un-progressive conservatives packing, that is all...na-noo-na-noo.
"...Pierre Trudeau was an accomplished justice minister when he became prime minister and had enjoyed a notable career as an intellectual, law professor..."
Correct me if my memory is off but didn't PET try to get the British House of Lords to pass the Charter into law and when that failed didn't he try next to get a federal court to make it law? Did not both these bodies not tell him
that was his job as a politician? Hmmn intellectual, law professor eh.
Barbara Ameil said in her Macleans column a few years after the Charter was proclaimed:
"A place which feels compelled to legislate justice and liberty is an unlikely place in which to find justice and liberty."
The government can take our property from us with no payment and no notice it was left out of both the Bill of Rights and the Charter:
"The due process protections in s. 1(a) of the Bill of Rights do not require that the veterans receive notice and a hearing before Parliament prior to the passage of expropriative [sic] legislation."
Authorson v. Canada (Attorney General), 2003 SCC 39, [2003] 2 S.C.R. 40
Even without the concept of "like father like son" there is the other matter which is the Liberal Party is a corporate party and as with the Cons we have had since our founding only the best federal governments money can buy ...corporate money.
Corporations fund their election expenses and that makes them beholden to them as in conflict of interest. (~_~)
Corporations fund their election expenses and that makes them beholden to them as in conflict of interest
Um well so do the unions in regards to the NDP. The NDP is beholden to union interests.
(~_~)
Justin has his mother's looks. Unfortunately he also inherited his mother's brains.
and hopefully not his Dad's concepts of what a political leader should be like.
http://lailayuile.com/2012/06/22/bob-mackin-will-the-gendarmes-guzzle-in-green-timbers/
I'm no supporter of The Federal Liberals but lets be kind about his mother. She was just a kid when Pierre (a guy who operated in the fast lane) married her, she developed a medical condition that greatly affected her and which she over came.Just a thought folks we read this blog to learn things not attack somebodies mother.
I think that even the Liberals know that they are finished as a political force in Canada. Bob Rae was their last hope and he has bowed out. Liberal governments in the recent past make the Cons look like amatures at filling the corporate troughs.
What about the NDP cowering to Big Labour?
Oh, really get over the old line of "the NDP cowering to Big Labour".
Some labour unions support the NDP but unions also know that when the NDP becomes government they also become the employer.
Yes, some labour supports the NDP because they don't make life too difficult for unions unlike the neo cons.
The money given to the federal Liberals & Conservatives is so much more than any money given by all the unions in Canada to the NDP. The real control of the Libeals & Conservatives is big business for the liberals, or was & China for the conservatives.
I worked in two federal unions, both considered left leaning. Both of those unions constitutions did not allow union funds to go to any party. The membership worked for a party of their choice, or not at all. The big bucks for political parties more to the right come in huge amounts from business that want and expect favors. Like most citizens , the members financially supported or did not support any party.
The story line was about Justine and if he was the chosen guy for the federal Liberals. Many people after reading some news articles lead me to believe he isn't the one.
Check the federal NDP constitution. Lots of cowering to Big Labour in there.
Dear Anon-o-Mouse who is obsessed with "Big Labor."
"What about the NDP cowering to Big Labour?"
What century are you living in? In the 21st century, thanks to the corporate forces unleashed and encouraged by Ronny Ray-Gun, the Iron Bitch Thatcher and Lyin' Brian and his FTA, there is no such thing as "Big Labor" anymore. And if anti-human (unless that human is a corporation or a Koch) politicos like Harper, his Slave Master Lisa Righter than Riatt and Scott Walker in Wisconsin have their way the right to negotiate anything to do with wages, working conditions or health and safety issues will be a distant memory.
If you want to improve your wages and/or life style you have one route, be born into, or elbow your way into the one percent. Everyone else will be cannon fodder and serfs unless the imbalance and inequality is addressed and re-adjusted.
Actualy have improved wages, and it never took any membership in any union to do it.
and dear boy maybe not in the States, but here in Canada Big Labour is ruled by Brother Georgetti with Brother Sinclair here in BC.
You're comparing something in Wisconsin which wouldn't happen here in BC. BC is still very much resource driven which means unions. Nothing wrong with it if the unions keep to doing what they are supposed to do and represent their members.
Read the NDP Constitution. It has alot of labour privilege in it. So does the BC NDP's constitution.
If there's Big Business, there's also Big Labour.
Big deal. Been around for decades
Part of the political environment here in BC and in Canada.
Adrian Dix received alot of Big Labour support in his leadership. The Vancouver Labour Council repeatedly endorses Vision (and earlier COPE). CUPE lends money and labour to the NDP and Vision.
Wake up.
Bill here worked for Big Labour.
Big deal. Nothing shocking there.
Unless of course Bill did time with
Price Waterhouse or KMPG Peat Marwick. That would be shocking to say the least.
But not as much as if Bill did PR work for Phil Hochstein's group
I am sickened by the prospect of poll and approval driven politics in Canada. No modern politician wants to advocate nose-blowing if it might lose image and votes somewhere. I disapproved of the Sr. Trudeau's politics on many occasions, but damn if it wasn't great to know a competent visionary was running the country.
Better still he ran the country on his agenda rather than a bland amalgam of popular and safe opinion. This is what I would look for from the son of Pierre.
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