We hear that there is no federal liberal party. Instead, we are told it is the Trudeau cult. The only thing is that, before we drink our Kool-Aid, we need to check to see whose idea this was anyway.
It was nine years ago that the MP from Papineau electoral district in Montreal started his campaign to win the liberal leadership. It was easier than he expected. After the experience of the party with three lacklustre leaders since the Jean Chrétien era ended, liberals needed hope and the voters were tired of Harper’s conservatives. We revelled in sunny days. Everyone wanted a selfie with the young Trudeau.
He electrified Canada’s youth and encouraged our seniors. We saw vitality and the acceptance of challenge. The opposition in parliament were left leaderless and in a funk. He excited foreign leaders and was welcomed at world councils. He took leadership in environmentalism. He made sure women were in positions of power. He proclaimed his feminism. The 21st Century belonged to Justin Trudeau.
And Trudeau’s mob grew and expanded. The opposition chose housekeepers over action figures for leaders. They saw the coming election as hopeless for their narrow views of Canada’s needs.
Nobody seemed to note this commentary that was vainly signalling its growing concerns for this party and its leadership. It was not all sunny days. Justin Trudeau’s elitism was showing. His lack of depth on the issues concerning. His promises were stumbling to become law.
Where were the believers of true liberalism? It was the Ontario liberals who were vanquished first. They were squashed. Their leader at the time, surrendered before the votes were even cast. And now there are few sunny days forecast for the summer and fall of 2019.
But never ever call the liberal party a lynch mob. You need never malign so many caring Canadians. You can accuse the prime minister and some of his cabinet of having failed us. That is fair.
But the ideal of liberalism does not change. The rational of individual rights and freedoms are the backbone of this country. How many of the peoples of nations around the world envy the freedoms of Canadians? Those are worth fighting for.
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Copyright 2019 © Peter Lowry
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