CANADA: Justin Trudeau wins Liberal leadership
Source: CBC
Trudeau says country needs to balance economic growth with environmental protection
Justin Trudeau has been elected leader of the federal Liberal party after a week of voting with an overwhelming majority. The results, which were widely expected, were announced at a Liberal event in Ottawa.
Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/news/live/2013/04/liberal-leadership-results.html
Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)Now, he has to actually show what he's got...which isn't that much, other than stylin' hair and clothes.
Amonester
(11,541 posts)He is younger than his father was in this new 'job' and he is more 'open-minded' to new ideas too.
He said he learned to learn since the last time he was a teacher (before 2008).
Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)particularly economic and social justice questions(he's a "pro-business" Liberal, progressive on minor issues, right-wing on the ones that really affect most of us).
I see no reason for anyone who voted NDP last time to switch to the Liberals...and he's not ever going to take votes from Harper's base of crazyheads.
I predict he'll implement the War Measures Act the first time protests get too intense for his upper-class comfort...it's a family tradition, y'know.
polly7
(20,582 posts)I like him. He's a people-person with some charm and personality, left of centre, and the exact opposite of Harper - though of course, I hate that *'er. He's got the Cons scared and attacking so he's obviously already seen by them as a threat.
Berlum
(7,044 posts)Posteritatis
(18,807 posts)Seedersandleechers
(3,044 posts)After all Margaret Trudeau was hanging out with the Rolling Stones about that time.
Ken Burch
(50,254 posts)Margaret didn't meet the Stones until after the '74 election.
Kind of a cheap shot, too.
And this is the only reason he got elected Liberal leader in my opinion. The Liberals (who long ago gave up being that and became a populist, centrist party) were decimated in the last election because the electorate saw they had no substance. Their loss was the NDP's gain and I may finally see the NDP become the ruling party in the next election if Harper keeps alienating people like he's been doing.
Liberal Veteran
(22,239 posts)graham4anything
(11,464 posts)and Pierre was torn down, then came back.
A true innovator, like President Obama here, had a vocal minority of people who did not like him.
Wish his son well. It's a long time coming for Justin.
He would be I guess, considered like JFK would have had JFK Jr. lived.
the same old I bet don't like him. They will be predictible, hopefully there are not many haters.
iandhr
(6,852 posts)I don't anything about the son. What is he like. Is this good news for Canadian Libs.
Amonester
(11,541 posts)Trudeaumania 2 and a little better at it for now.
But nat'l elections only up in 2.5 years (mid-2015).
We'll see.
Posteritatis
(18,807 posts)At the moment the federal Liberals are toast; the last federal election basically left a gently smoking crater where one of the primary political parties used to stand, not too far off from what happened to the Progressive-Conservatives in 1993. A string of unexceptional leaders beforehand contributed a lot to that, so there's some feeling that a party leader with at least the charisma of a cardboard box will be the kind of thing that revitalizes the party.
Whether it does, and what that does to their chances electorally, would be where we'd get the answer to whether it's good news for Canadian small-L liberals. The general shape of the electoral scene right now is very different from what it was during Chretien's time in office (or the full span of Canadian history beforehand), so it's much harder to predict the effects of just about anything federally than it would have been in the past. Canadian politics used to be about controlling the political centre for the most part, but the general tone nowadays leads to uncertainty whether we're still doing that, or if we're shifting to a more polarized left-versus-right system. I'm still not entirely sure how I feel about that.
Beforehand I liked a mostly-dominant Liberal party with a strong enough NDP to have significant influence over the agenda, but with an ascendant Conservative Party I'm still trying to figure out if I'd rather see a Liberal bounceback to retake the Canadian centre, or an NDP which tries to maintain their momentum and hang onto their new role as the dominant party on the left.