Justin Trudeau: The Natural Heir by Huguette Young

Author:Huguette Young
Language: eng
Format: mobi, azw3
Tags: Presidents & Heads of State, Political Process, Political, Political Science, Biography & Autobiography, Political Parties
ISBN: 9781459735743
Publisher: Dundurn
Published: 2016-07-23T04:20:19.741000+00:00

———

Canada is not used to political dynasties, but the public’s reaction to Justin Trudeau suggests that nostalgia for the Trudeau years was also at work. Pierre Elliott Trudeau revelled in controversy. He had given the finger in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, invoked the War Measures Act, introduced unpopular wage and price controls, and imposed the National Energy Program. Nonetheless, he had grown in public stature over the years. In fact, according to Professor Alex Marland at Memorial University of Newfoundland, he had become a mythical figure.

It was hard to call to mind Pierre Trudeau without recalling his great intellectual ability, which was acknowledged by opponents and admirers alike. People noticed his son’s good looks, but Justin Trudeau is credited above all with emotional intelligence. He is a warm person, and he speaks with emotion. That is what enables him to reach out to people. While running for the Liberal leadership in 2012–13, his campaign slogan was “hope and hard work,” which reminded people of Jack Layton’s message of hope during the 2011 federal election campaign. Justin did nothing to discourage the comparison.

Pierre and Justin both stand as charismatic leaders. Historian John English, who knew Pierre well and also knows his son, said that “something extraordinary” happened whenever Pierre Elliott Trudeau entered a room, even if he didn’t say much and seemed shy. Justin, meanwhile, is not as shy, but he is equally able to light up a room.

But in other respects the son is unlike the father: their professional careers could not have been more different, and they do not bear much resemblance to each other, whether temperamentally or physically.

By the time Pierre Elliott Trudeau entered the political arena he was already fully formed. He had written widely and had become well known through Cité libre, a magazine he co-founded. When Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson recruited Trudeau in 1965, he, along with Jean Marchand and Gérard Pelletier, were “the three wise men” who gave such momentum to the federal Liberals in Quebec.

By 2013, Justin was still in the learning phase. He had worked mostly with young people. He had been chair of the board of Katimavik, had taught in high school, given speeches in school settings and on behalf of civil society groups, and had been elected twice in Papineau. He was a man of the people, and his team tried to show him in the best light possible. But it was hard to picture him leading the country. His charisma drew people but didn’t unleash the kind of frenzy associated with his father. In 1968, the Trudeaumania phenomenon “was practically sexual,” recalls Richard Gwyn, a journalist who wrote a biography of Pierre Elliott Trudeau.

Marc Lalonde, who served as Pierre Trudeau’s principal secretary and then minister of finance, has never understood the public craze for the former prime minister. But it was tangible, hard to control, and at times frankly “troubling.” Trudeaumania seemed more like the excited mood of the crowd at a Beatles concert than the sort of response one would find in a political gathering.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.