Commentator Chantal Hébert worries that Justin Trudeau lacks the gravitas of former Prime Minister Jean Chrétien. Thomas Walkom fears Trudeau is out of touch with the world leaders who have decided Russia’s Putin is a good guy after all. And we discussed Rosie DiManno yesterday who thinks Justin is juvenile.
And those people write for the more liberal Toronto Star. There are harsher things being said in publications that dislike our new Prime Minister. They dislike him because he is a liberal and maybe because of his family name.
Is the new government’s honeymoon over so soon? Is the media fuss over our new prime minister now passé? Did the events in Paris really overshadow Canada’s new broom in the halls of parliament?
Mind you, for Hébert to compare Jean Chrétien and Justin Trudeau is an attempt to compare across generations. When Chrétien took office he immediately started breaking his promises. Trudeau is keeping his. How can you compare that?
To use the name Chrétien and gravitas in the same sentence is not something that Canadians will readily understand. The little guy from Shawinigan and the son of the prime minister who brought Chrétien into prominence are not even in the same category. He might have replaced Brian Mulroney but Chrétien would have to admit it was far easier feat than defeating Stephen Harper.
Chrétien was but a gas pain in Canada’s digestive tract. Justin Trudeau is a sea change.
And that seems to be what our news media are missing. Listening to Peter Mansbridge and his pundit panel the other night, he kept asking if the honeymoon with Justin Trudeau was over and the answer seemed to be a qualified “No.”
For Canada’s Prime Minister to be lionized as a rock star by a group of Philipinos in Manilla might seem odd but it does say something. This is not just Pierre Trudeau’s kid. This is an idealised version of a modern Galahad. It is the image of leadership that you need to be young and a romantic to fathom. When the Harper Conservatives tried to tell Canadians that he was not ready, Justin simply ducked under the barriers.
Canada has a new international image that is going to pay off handsomely for our country. And as you might have heard many times before: Now is the time for you to push, pull or get the hell out of the way!
-30-
Copyright 2015 © Peter Lowry
Complaints, comments, criticisms and compliments can be sent to [email protected]