All rebellions have to start somewhere. And it looks like Justin Trudeau miscalculated and let one start in the Quebec electoral district of Saint-Laurent. The riding had been held by Stéphane Dion until Trudeau bounced him from the cabinet and sent him to be ambassador to the European Union and Germany. It looks like the Liberals in Saint-Laurent started the revolution without their good friend Stéphane.
Despite Trudeau refusing to authorize the candidacy of his choice’s most likely competitor, his candidate lost anyway. Yolande James, a former immigration minister in the Jean Charest provincial cabinet and more recently a commentator on politics for Radio-Canada was defeated. She was defeated by a previously unknown 26-year old high school teacher who lives in the electoral district.
The word is that the chosen candidate’s name is Emmanuella Lambropolus and she was more surprised than anyone else when she won. She had assumed that she would be defeated when she heard of Justin Trudeau’s choice of James. Rather than give up, she and her team just kept on working. They must have wanted to make as good a showing as possible.
It does not speak well for Justin Trudeau’s judgement. He had trouble in dumping Stéphane Dion even with the plum diplomatic assignment. And then he left what he thought were minor opponents to make the nomination meeting look a little more democratic. That bit him on the bum.
But what we are really puzzled about is the political acumen of a Radio-Canada political commentator who gets parachuted into a riding and thinks they do not have to work for the nomination. What we tell every potential candidate is that your nomination campaign has to be a sample of the hard work you are promising your supporters in the coming election.
Hard work is obviously no stranger to the winning candidate. She fought for her riding and she won. And she taught Justin Trudeau a lesson that he desperately needed to learn. Never take Liberals for granted.
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Copyright 2017 © Peter Lowry
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