Liberal Party of Canada Leadership

[Maxadia]

Harper might not be the most exciting Captain we have had, but he's keeping things on an even and steady keel.

 

[ModlrMike]

Stephen Harper may come off like a cold fish...

That is largely a construct of his critics and the media IMHO. Having met and spoken with him several times, I have quite an opposite opinion.

 

[Fishbone Jones]

That is largely a construct of his critics and the media IMHO. Having met and spoken with him several times, I have quite an opposite opinion.

Agreed. There is nowhere in Canada, that I'm aware of, that is willing to give PM Harper his due.

Harper's name is a slagfest for every political writer, whether they have read the policies or not.

Harper gets demonised by our ignorant and biased press.

 

[bridges]

Agreed. There is nowhere in Canada, that I'm aware of, that is willing to give PM Harper his due.

I have several friends who think he's doing a great job, and from what I hear he's pretty popular in Calgary.

Harper gets demonised by our ignorant and biased press.

In some cases, probably.  But is it also possible that in some cases they are simply exposing and/or disagreeing with something he's done?  Or is it a case of, if only everyone were better informed, they would agree with you/him? 

 

[Edward Campbell]

I have several friends who think he's doing a great job, and from what I hear he's pretty popular in Calgary.

In some cases, probably.  But is it also possible that in some cases they are simply exposing and/or disagreeing with something he's done?  Or is it a case of, if only everyone were better informed, they would agree with you/him? 

I think much (most?) of the traditional, mainstream media IS both ignorant and biased. The reason is simple: incest. The traditional, mainstream media relies, almost exclusively, on a small number of Stepford Wives like journalism schools that provide second rate educations (they are, in fact, craft schools and their programmes are suited to community colleges) and force-feed students with a consistent left of centre political philosophy. There are, of course, exceptions but I believe that recceguy's characterization (ignorant and biased) is, very broadly, correct.

Apologies to the journalists who visit Army.ca, but that's my opinion of your profession. Some of you are excellent, and indeed, unbiased reporters: able to provide me with timely, accurate information on a wide range of subjects. But most of you are woefully ignorant of science, mathematics and, therefore of economics, strategy - no matter how defined - and military matters.

The fault, as I see it, from my own highly biased perspective, is trying to make journalism into something it is not: a profession. It's a trade, like plumbing or drafting, and it should be taught, in a 'trade school' to people who already have a useful education, which includes, at the very least, two or three maths courses, one or more in statistics. Specialist journalists are needed to report on complex issues like economics, health, trade, science and technology, defence and foreign affairs.

 

[Edward Campbell]

Here, reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act from, respectvely, Canada.com and the Globe and Mail, are two informative articles about Justin Trudeau:

The Trudeau Team

http://o.canada.com/2012/10/05/1006-col-dentandt/

Trudeau’s rebels not about ‘renewal’: They mean to start from scratch

Michael Den Tandt

Published: October 5, 2012

TORONTO  – Already they’re worried they’ll be perceived as the young Turks, rabble-rousers and malcontents, mostly in their early 40s or younger, who fervently believe the Liberal Party of Canada needs a swift kick in the pants.

“If there was any kind of age design in the assembly of this team, I’m not aware of it,” says Ontario organizer Omar Alghabra, dismissing a report of an upper age limit of 40 for membership in the inner circle. “We’re are a bunch of friends, like-minded people who have the same vision for the country, the party, and for Canadians.”

But that’s precisely who they are, in spirit, and what they intend to do: With Justin Trudeau leading the way, and with his younger brother Sacha now also leaping into politics at his side, the barbarians are at the gate of the party of Laurier. The two baby boys born on Christmas Day – 1971 and 1973, respectively – are all grown up. They intend to seize control of, unmake and then remake their father’s party – and in the process, they and their supporters hope, change the course of Canadian history.

This possibility is no longer simply the stuff of Liberal fantasy: A recent poll for the National Post found that, with Trudeau heading the party, the Grits would win 39 per cent of the vote, enough for a majority. So, who are these people, anyway?

Almost to a man and woman, the people closest to Justin Trudeau are “Greeks” (a cross between a Grit and a geek); bright, capable young people who, not many years ago, were toiling in relative anonymity at the feet of the party’s 1990s-era giants. Most are parents with young children. Like Trudeau himself, they tend in their backgrounds to hew to what is generally perceived as the party’s left wing. Some are people who’d hoped, in 2006, that Gerard Kennedy would win the leadership and revitalize the Liberal party. But they’re not talking about revitalizing any longer. They’re talking about starting over.

“I was one of those people that was hugely behind renewal of the party in 2006,” says Katie Telford, who ran Kennedy’s 2006 leadership bid and is now running Trudeau’s campaign. “That was when we really thought we were going to bring about the change required. It didn’t happen so successfully and I think Justin and others are of the view that ‘renewal’ became a word that just started not to work anymore. It became just a word. What are we renewing? What are we rebuilding? We actually just need to build. This is roll up your sleeves and build.”

Without question, Trudeau’s rebels embody a generational shift: Generation X is finally at the head table. Whether what the campaign is already calling a “movement” represents a philosophical and ideological shift as well, remains to be seen.

Certainly, there are early signs Trudeau intends to try something unusual: His stump speech is explicitly anti-ideological. His senior people speak about crafting “post-partisan” policy. Behind the scenes they are quietly but deliberately reaching across party lines in a search for ideas. “I’m not sure I would characterize us a left-leaning,” says Telford. “If there’s a good idea that’s traditionally seen as right … we’re all pretty open-minded people. (Solutions) need to be results-driven, and evidence-driven.”

In addition to Telford herself, and Sacha Trudeau, the core team includes: Gerry Butts, one of Trudeau’s close friends and a former policy architect in the Ontario McGuinty government; Mike McNair, an alumnus of the London School of Economics and former director of the Liberal Research Bureau; former Ontario MPs Navdeep Bains and Omar Alghabra; policy analyst and University of Ottawa professor Robert Asselin; Bruce Young, formerly an adviser on British Columbia issues to Paul Martin; former CBC TV journalist and Ontario Liberal staffer Ben Chin, who now lives in B.C; Chris MacInnes, a senior organizer in the Nova Scotia Liberal party; Danielle Dansereau, a Quebec-based communications consultant; and Jon Moser, a former Paul Martin staffer who now lives in Alberta.

New Brunswick MP Dominic LeBlanc, who ran unsuccessfully for the Liberal leadership in 2006, is not running and is endorsing Trudeau, who is a long-time friend. LeBlanc will also play a key role in the Trudeau campaign.

Of this group, only Telford has a formal title.  She and McNair, thus far, are the only operatives working full-time on the campaign. The rest are unpaid volunteers. Though it’s early days, their idealism appears entirely sincere. “I’m just helping as much as I can,” says Ben Chin, “… to help a person I care for, and think he’s the right guy for the job.”

Trudeau’s team is animated by a belief that the current political system has failed or is failing. “What we see is old-school rules,” says Chin. “Regional divides, regional mistrust … I don’t think Canadians are ideological. I don’t think Canadians are polarized. I think Canadians want pragmatic solutions that work, and policy based on facts as opposed to making up the facts to justify the policy. That’s what we need to get back to.”

Every Liberal operative is conscious of the party’s history of nasty fratricidal warfare. Trudeau’s people say they’re determined to avoid that. “We want to have a relatively flat organization,” says Telford. “There are certain accountabilities, but we want to stay as flat as possible and as merit-based as possible. It’s about who’s willing to put in the work, no matter their background, no matter what party they’ve been in before, or (whether they’ve) been involved in past battles.”

There will be no leadership campaign policy booklet, such as the one produced by Michael Ignatieff in his 2006 leadership effort, Trudeau organizers say. Instead he will articulate his values and principles, sketching a frame within which later policy proposals will emerge. For now, the team’s main practical goal is to introduce him to people – as many as they possibly can, nationwide. “It’s less about the air war,” says Telford. “He’s got to go out there and shake lots of hands and meet people and hear about the issues on the ground, and see how that evolves his message and his thinking.”

We know already, based on what he has said so far, that Trudeau will preach optimism, respect and inclusion, darts aimed at Stephen Harper’s heart; and an end to regional polarization related to resource extraction, which is a javelin aimed at Tom Mulcair’s. In Calgary Wednesday, Trudeau said this: “It is time for us to be more honest with ourselves. There is not a country in the world that would find 170 billion barrels of oil and leave it in the ground. There is not a province in this country that would find 170 billion barrels of oil and leave it in the ground.”

Beyond that major theme, though, what can we surmise about Trudeau’s likely policy direction from the composition of his team? Its pivotal figures, though some might dispute such a characterization, are Butts, Telford, McNair and Sacha Trudeau. As a group they are progressive, environmentalist and internationalist, but with a pragmatic tilt. If “youthful over-achiever” were a political party, all four would be charter members.

Butts is a governor of McGill University and president and CEO of the World Wildlife Fund, Canada. He has a Master’s degree in English Literature from McGill; while there he twice won national debating championships. In addition to having served nearly a decade as principal secretary to Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty, Butts wrote the Ontario Liberal policy platforms in their first two winning elections.

Telford, a new mother with a 15-month-old son, is a consultant at Toronto-based Strategy Corp. She cut her teeth as chief of staff to Gerard Kennedy, when he was Ontario education minister. After Kennedy’s failed bid for the federal Liberal party leadership, Telford went to work for the new leader, Stephane Dion. She was a Liberal negotiator in the ultimately unsuccessful coalition talks between the Liberals and New Democrats in 2008.

McNair is a former investment banker for CIBC World Markets, with a Master’s degree in global economic history from the London School of Economics and another in international and public affairs from Columbia University. He was a policy adviser to Dion and Michael Ignatieff. He will travel with Trudeau and is the team’s key policy hand.

Most intriguing of all, perhaps, is Alexandre “Sacha” Trudeau’s role. At 38, the middle Trudeau son is a documentary filmmaker and journalist (the youngest, Michel, died in an avalanche accident in 1998). Though Sacha is less outgoing than his brother, his work has long been passionately political, in a nuanced way. He was an outspoken critic of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.

In 2003, Sacha told The Gazette in Montreal, “I’m not a Liberal. I’m apolitical.”

Though Sacha is known to have helped his brother campaign in his Montreal riding of Papineau, his involvement has grown substantially. He leads the building of Trudeau’s Quebec organization. “He’s 100-per-cent supportive of his brother,” says Telford. “You hope for family to be supportive. You never know how much they’ll be available and interested. He’s got three young children himself (but) he’s all there.”

In Mississauga Thursday, Justin Trudeau drew an audience of more than 1,000 to an event that had been planned for between 300 and 400. In his speech, a variant of the one he gave Tuesday in Montreal and Wednesday in Calgary and Richmond, B.C., he predicted the blaze of interest in his candidacy will soon fade, as he begins to engage with smaller groups in smaller towns. “The lights will dim and the cameras will disappear,” he said.

Having witnessed the last five days, his rivals – in his own party, and beyond – are doubtless hoping that’s true. Whether Trudeau has in fact launched a “movement,” as he says in his stump speech, remains to be seen. But without question, the people closest to him believe it’s a movement. That is something we’ve not seen in a while.

size=13pt]AND[/size]​

M. Trudeau Can Be a Game Changer

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/on-day-of-leblanc-endorsement-poll-shows-trudeau-could-recreate-liberals/article4591559/

On day of LeBlanc endorsement, poll shows Trudeau could recreate Liberals

MICHAEL MACDONALD
The Canadian Press

Published Friday, Oct. 05 2012

On a day when Justin Trudeau’s Liberal leadership bid won the support of Dominic LeBlanc — a scion of Canada’s Liberal establishment — a new poll came out that suggests he could reshape the country’s political landscape.

The latest Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey released Friday says 36 per cent of those who took part in the poll across the country last week said they would be certain or likely to vote Liberal in the next election if Mr. Trudeau is at the party’s helm.

The poll says he would get “significant support” east of Manitoba, with 40 per cent of those surveyed in Ontario, 43 per cent in Quebec and 48 per cent in Atlantic Canada indicating they would be certain or likely to vote for the Liberals if Trudeau is leading the party.

“Justin Trudeau — more than any other prospective candidate we tested — holds the best prospect for a revival of the Liberal party,” said Allan Gregg, chairman of Harris-Decima. “In fact he is the only candidate we tested that has the potential to broaden the Liberal vote beyond its current base.”

Mr. Gregg said the results in Quebec “debunk the myth that the Trudeau name is a liability in the province of Quebec or among francophones.”

The poll also suggests that while Mr. Trudeau is a threat to the Conservatives, the NDP has the most to lose from his leadership of the Liberals.

The poll suggests that if Quebec MP Marc Garneau were leading the Liberals, 18 per cent of respondents would be certain or likely to vote for the party, while the Bank of Canada’s Mark Carney stood at 16 per cent.

The telephone poll taken between Sept. 27 and 30 of just over 1,000 Canadians is considered accurate within plus or minus 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

It also looked at Mr. LeBlanc’s chances in the leadership race, but the New Brunswick MP set his own ambitions aside on Friday to back his lifelong friend.

Mr. LeBlanc’s move, coming only three days after Mr. Trudeau announced his candidacy, effectively leaves the Montreal MP without any serious challengers waiting in the wings, prompting more speculation about a boring coronation rather than a exciting race leading to the final voting in April.

In a brief speech that was mostly in French,Mr.  LeBlanc told about 250 people in Dieppe, N.B., that he and Mr. Trudeau have not only been friends since childhood, but they also share deep Liberal roots — Mr. LeBlanc’s late father, former governor general Romeo LeBlanc, was a longtime Liberal MP and cabinet minister who served under Mr. Trudeau’s famous father, former prime minister Pierre Trudeau.

Mr. LeBlanc said their families vacationed together in New Brunswick in August, and the two politicians share not only a close friendship, but the same political values.

“We spoke, Justin and I, about our shared love of Canada,” he told a campaign event where the announcement was made. “We spoke about the challenges facing our country and we spoke about how we can participate, fully, in the future of Canada and in giving Canadians a progressive, inclusive government of which they can be proud.”

In the past, Mr. LeBlanc has had aspirations to lead his party and briefly ran for the top job in 2008 before stepping aside for Michael Ignatieff.

Although he’d mused publicly about running again this time, he made no effort to put together a campaign team and few Liberals actually expected him to take the plunge. An insider close to Mr. Trudeau said no pressure was put on Mr. LeBlanc to stand aside.

For his part,Mr.  LeBlanc made it clear he would be part of Mr. Trudeau’s team.

“We have been friends our entire lives,” he said. “I have seen up close Justin’s toughness, his work ethic. Justin is one of the most energetic, hard-working people I have ever met. I’ve seen how his hard work, how his energy, how his enthusiasm can inspire others.”

Mr. LeBlanc then pointed out there was another 200 people waiting outside the auditorium to see the two men.

In his speech, Mr. Trudeau spoke in broad terms about his desire to lead the party and the country. There were no policy announcements, no clues as to what he would do if handed the mantle of power.

But he pumped up the crowd with little effort. He also punctuated most of his sentences by looking directly as the assembled cameras like a seasoned campaigner.

“It’s not about me. It’s not even about our party,” he said. “It’s about the fact that Canadians are listening because they’re not satisfied with the government they have. They want better. They know they deserve better.”

Like Mr. LeBlanc, he spoke mostly in French, appealing to residents of the Moncton area, known for its large contingent of francophones and dedication to bilingualism. The area is part of Mr. LeBlanc’s Beausejour riding in eastern New Brunswick, an area where the LeBlanc name is synonymous with Liberal royalty.

After the speech, Rick Sear said he liked what he heard from Trudeau.

“He expresses a vision of a new generation for Canada,” said Mr. Sear, a retired accountant from Sussex. “It’s really what we need in this country — new leadership. Let the younger people take over.”

Mr. Sear also said he was impressed with Mr.  Trudeau’s vision.

“He expressed values, Canadian values,” he said. “I know (Prime Minister Stephen) Harper has values that don’t resonate with Canadians. His is a divisive type of leadership just to gain power. We need a vision that all Canadians can get behind.”

Despite Mr. Trudeau’s youthful appearance — he’s 40 — Bertin LeBlanc said he reminds him of another era.

“It reminded me of the years when we felt that national unity was a priority, not only on the questions of language and culture but also in terms of economic development and respect for all provinces,” said Mr. LeBlanc, who lives in Sainte-Marie-de-Kent, N.B.

Victor Boudreau, leader of New Brunswick’s Opposition Liberal party, said Dominic LeBlanc has been a friend of his for 25 years, but he said it was clear why one friend was stepping aside for another.

“The buzz that has been created around Justin Trudeau’s candidacy ... it’s a buzz that we’ve not felt within the Liberal Party of Canada for quite some time now,” he said. “That’s certainly encouraging to see the attention that it’s bringing to the party.”

Those (36%) who say, now, that they will vote Liberal if M. Trudeau is leading the party are:

1. Pledging to vote without thinking; and

2. Making celebrity more important than say, ideas, leadership, policy, integrity, ability or gravitas.

But the young team behind M. Trudeau is smart and ambitious and they understand that they have celebrity on their side and they calculate that it just might be enough ... and they might be right.

 

[Dissident]

and they might be right.

Sadly, the triumph of style over substance. Again.

 

[Remius]

Sadly, the triumph of style over substance. Again.

Well the liberals have lacked both for a longtime.  So maybe getting 1 out of 2 is progress for some?

On a more serious note though, what has potential is this.  Trudeau is getting attention through style or whatever.  Now we will need to see if he can make gains by using it properly.  you can have all the substance in the world but without attention you just won't get far.

 

[Old Sweat]

I was struck while reading the first article Edward posted by the sameness of the group of supporters and how terribly metrosexual and Liberal party establishment they seemed to be. Their fresh, new ideas may well be the same old, same old less the grey hair and the wrinkles.

 

[a_majoor]

I was struck while reading the first article Edward posted by the sameness of the group of supporters and how terribly metrosexual and Liberal party establishment they seemed to be. Their fresh, new ideas may well be the same old, same old less the grey hair and the wrinkles.

Which is the real danger. OTOH, Smiling Jack Layton simply put a fresh coat of paint on the NDP without any really substantive changes to the Dippers, and they are now the official opposition. The LPC pulled the same trick between 1993 and 2006, essentially dusting off the 1993 "Red Book" for each and every election. How many times can you promise Universal Day Care before people start to realize that they have been had?

Tony Blair should be the model for would be reformers to emulate; "New Labour" did make some major changes and dropped some pretty traditional Labour planks to achieve and hold  power; and they did pretty well too until Blair was levered out by his own party.

 

[uptheglens]

Their fresh, new ideas may well be the same old, same old less the grey hair and the wrinkles.

Their strategy is to longer polish a turd, but to roll it in glitter, IMO.

 

[Nemo888]

How can you lead a party with no platform other than, "we really want to get elected". You need at least the pretense of an ideology. Without that the Liberals are history. Misguided or not he other two parties have platforms.

 

[Edward Campbell]

How can you lead a party with no platform other than, "we really want to get elected". You need at least the pretense of an ideology. Without that the Liberals are history. Misguided or not he other two parties have platforms.

The answer is simple: exploit Canadians' culture of celebrity. Stephen Harper is boring; he talks about economics ~ yech; Thomas Mulcair has a beard ~ how uncool; Justin Trudeau has great hair and a brilliant smile ~ WOW!

I learned a really important political science lesson many years decades back; for some reason the topic turned to politics (I think she - a really gorgeous girl with whom I was keeping company at the time - had a compare/contrast question to answer, or something), anyway I ended up comparing and contrasting John Diefenbaker and Mike Pearson (so it was back in the mid to late '60s) and she looked at me as if I had gone completely mad and said: "But, they wear boots!" Indeed they did, as did many gentlemen of their age - well made, lightweight, soft, dress boots which could be, and in the early 20th century were worn with spats. Today many gentlemen wear quarter Wellington boots ~ same thing. Anyway she was really pretty so I accepted her verdict that neither Diefenbaker nor Pearson could possibly get her vote and that since she was pretty sure that Tommy Douglas and Bob Stanfield wore boots, too, that left only Pierre Trudeau as a man fit to lead Canada. My point is that it wasn't boots, per se, that mattered to her, it was charisma which Trudeau had aplenty; Douglas not very much and Stanfield not at all. She cared nothing for policy, nothing for experience or qualifications, nothing for gravitas, but style mattered. I believe, quite firmly, that she was a far more representative voter than I. I suspect her grandchildren think exactly the same as she did (still does, I hope, she was a nice girl, too, besides being great in bed) and they are representative Canadian voters who will, likely vote for Justin Trudeau based solely on style which means that they will reject substance - and Stephen Harper and Thomas Mulcair - as a qualification for high office.

 

Classic dress boot, worn by e.g. John Diefenbaker                                                                      Modern quarter Wellington dress boot, worn by e.g. E.R. Campbell


Edit: typo

 

[Jarnhamar]

The answer is simple: exploit Canadians' culture of celebrity. Stephen Harper is boring; he talks about economics ~ yech; Thomas Mulcair has a beard ~ how uncool; Justin Trudeau has great hair and a brilliant smile ~ WOW!

I was thinking about this yesterday after catching a news clip about Justin Trudeau. 

I was wondering what kind of background and experience he had in politics, aside from the obvious family connection.  He's charismatic, good looking and 'acts hip' but aside from that in my very limited exposure to him in the news and articles he doesn't seem to have an actual presence if you know what I mean.

I think he will easily get elected for the above reasons.  Like UpTheGlens said, it's rolling something in glitter. 

I haven't made up my mind about him yet (probably won't because I don't care) but a little while back when he was asked if he was going to run for the Liberal party and he played coy "ohhhh I don't know if that's in the cards..." was a pretty transparent lie.

 

[a_majoor]

What makes this even more annoying to me is I have actually had the opportunity to observe the Prime Minister and Justin Trudeau "at close range" in smallish functions, and the reality is quite the opposite of the media narratives; the Prime Minister is actually a fairly warm person while I found the "real" Justin Trudeau to be devoid of presence (he essentially mailed in the speech, which was a retread of old (NDP) ideas anyway).

Since the vast majority of Canadians will never have the opportunity to meet either the Prime Minister or Justin Trudeau (or Thomas Mulcair, for that matter), they will have their opinions shaped by media "narratives" rather than observation or factual analysis. Edward is probably right; our collective fate is being shaped by people who place more stock in a person's footwear rather than ideas, experience or demonstrated competence. Think about that next time you hear a debate on the role of the Armed Forces, the Canadian budget, the environment, monetary policy or anything else of real consequence...

 

[Dissident]

The answer is simple: exploit Canadians' culture of celebrity. Stephen Harper is boring; he talks about economics ~ yech; Thomas Mulcair has a beard ~ how uncool; Justin Trudeau has great hair and a brilliant smile ~ WOW!

[Plus rest of post]

Exactly.

I have had good nature arguments with the in laws (smart, well educated, military family) on many occasions about PM SH. Their main bone of contention is that Harper, aside from being Canada's GW Bush, is a cold heartless person who is only interested in money, not people. I always thought they represented the average voter, albeit more articulately.

 

[Good2Golf]

If Stephen Harper hands the mantle over to Peter MacKay as per what many (informed Conservatives) believe to be a gentleman's agreement regarding the pooling of Reform and PC influence, then young Justin will have some serious image competition to deal with...fairly suave PM, rather smoking hot wife, and what will likely be a pretty good looking bambino on the way...2015 will be a very interesting race.  I do think that (relatively) young Justin will definitely have his work cut out for him, battling against two very seasoned adversaries (Harper/Mackay and Mulcair).

Regards
G2G

 

[Fishbone Jones]

Exactly.

I have had good nature arguments with the in laws (smart, well educated, military family) on many occasions about PM SH. Their main bone of contention is that Harper, aside from being Canada's GW Bush, is a cold heartless person who is only interested in money, not people. I always thought they represented the average voter, albeit more articulately.

Simply their opinion, of course. Very narrow and not very accurate, if you ask me. That's just the way the press characterizes him.

But that's just my opinion.

 

[Edward Campbell]

We ought not to forget that Justin Trudeau is not alone in the race; Deborah Coyne, for one, is also in.

This old article, reproduced under the Fair Dealing provisions of the Copyright Act from the Globe and Mail, gives a fairly flattering portrait:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/deborah-coyne-enters-liberal-leadership-race/article4373408/

Deborah Coyne enters Liberal leadership race

JOAN BRYDEN
OTTAWA — The Canadian Press

Published Wednesday, Jun. 27 2012

Liberals yearning for the glory days of Trudeaumania as they head into a leadership contest could face a choice between Pierre Trudeau’s eldest son and the mother of his only daughter.

Justin Trudeau is actively reconsidering his initial decision to stay out of the race.

But Deborah Coyne isn’t waiting for the 40-year-old Montreal MP to make up his mind.

She’s taking the plunge Wednesday.

“Our families have always been very separate so I have not been speaking to Justin Trudeau,” Ms. Coyne told The Canadian Press, wishing him “all the best” in whatever he decides to do.

“If the two of us happen to end up in the leadership contest together, I don’t see anything awkward about that. I think that’s wonderful.”

“The more people you have in, bringing different perspectives to bear, different suggestions about where the country should go, different ideas for rebuilding the party, the better.”

Nor, Ms. Coyne maintains, will it make for uncomfortable half-sibling relations. Daughter Sarah is “very supportive of me and interested in what I’m doing,” but she’s heading into her final undergraduate year at an American university and won’t be involved in the leadership campaign.

While Justin Trudeau would be the presumptive front-runner should he jump into the contest, Ms. Coyne knows she’s a long-shot.

But she says she’s running because she believes Canadians are fed up with polarizing partisanship and that gives the Liberal party a golden opportunity to re-emerge from its current third-party status as the party of “bold, principled” national leadership on important public policy questions.

“I’m in this to make sure it’s an ideas-based campaign. I believe I have a vision and a program that will resonate with many Canadians.”

Ms. Coyne, 57, has been involved in public policy debates for decades, as a lawyer, university professor, constitutional activist and author of numerous books and articles on a variety of issues. She is probably best known for her role in advising former Newfoundland premier Clyde Wells during his fight against the Meech Lake constitutional accord and for spearheading efforts to rally public opinion against the subsequent Charlottetown accord.

It was during those constitutional wars that Ms. Coyne’s relationship with Pierre Trudeau, an influential figure in scuppering both accords, flourished, resulting in Sarah’s birth in 1991.

Given her experience with past constitutional conflicts, it is perhaps not surprising that some of the central ideas Ms. Coyne is advancing now as a leadership contender are aimed at depoliticizing divisive federal-provincial issues.

Among the more novel ideas on 23 different subjects outlined on her campaign website, are proposals to:

    + Replace sporadic first ministers meetings with a formal council of Canadian governments, based on the model used by Australia and designed to create a
        “more collegial and collaborative” mechanism for tackling issues in need of a national response, including criminal justice, the environment and energy.

    + Create an independent advisory commission tasked with reforming and managing equalization and other federal transfer payments to provinces in a
        manner that promotes “greater equity and equality of opportunity for all Canadians, regardless of residence.”
   
    +Expand the powers of the national health council to facilitate consensus on national health care standards, including the best mix of public and private care.


Among other things, Ms. Coyne is also calling for a carbon tax and a reassessment of the utility of supply management for dairy products. The one-time Liberal candidate – she was a sacrificial lamb put up against then-NDP leader Jack Layton in 2006 – rejects the notion of a Liberal-NDP merger.

Her vision for the country also includes some echoes of Pierre Trudeau’s philosophy – such as her view that the country needs a strong national government to impart a sense of common purpose and to demonstrate that Canada is “more than the sum of its parts.

Nor does she shy away from defending Mr. Trudeau’s 1982 deal to patriate the Constitution with a Charter of rights, maintaining that national leaders need to “seize every possible opportunity” to counter the “old canard” that Quebec was “excluded” from the deal.

Still, Ms. Coyne bristles at suggestions that “somehow I’m just a mouthpiece for things that Pierre Trudeau may have said in the past.”

“Whatever I’m saying there is not at all just repeating, it’s what I’ve come to learn in my years of experience, most of which were long before I even met Pierre Trudeau” in the mid-1980s.

She points out that her views on things like collective rights and special status for Quebec are shared by millions of Canadians, manifested in public opposition to the Meech and Charlottetown accords. To ascribe them to one person, namely Mr. Trudeau, does a “disservice” to Canadians, she says.

Ms. Coyne, who currently bills herself as a Toronto-based independent public policy consultant, says her vision for the future of the country and the party “is built on ideas and history and views of what’s going to happen in the future. It’s not tied to any single person. ... It’s placing this in a continuum and it’s looking forward.

The Liberal leadership contest won’t formally begin until November, culminating in a leadership convention next April.

Shane Geschiere, a 32-year-old Manitoba paramedic with no political experience, is the only other person so far to openly declare his intention to enter the race.

A multitude of others are mulling whether to take the plunge, including Montreal MP and first Canadian astronaut Marc Garneau, Ottawa MP David McGuinty, New Brunswick MP Dominic LeBlanc, former MPs Gerard Kennedy, Mark Holland and Martha Hall Findlay, one-time candidates David Bertschi and Taleeb Noormohamed and Toronto lawyer George Takach.

Unlike M. Trudeau, Ms Coyne has some "bottom, " some gravitas and has thought, spoken and written about issues.

 

[Dissident]

Simply their opinion, of course. Very narrow and not very accurate, if you ask me. That's just the way the press characterizes him.

But that's just my opinion.

And I agree with yours. But even if they were absolutely right, we could do worse than a PM who is mainly concerned with managing the country as opposed to make people feel good about himself/the government.

The funny thing to me is that their hatred of Harper is the only thing that unites them politically. I am curious to see if the MiL and the 2x BiL would rally under a Trudeau led Liberal party. As it stands the MiL is Green, one BiL is NDP and the other (a RCAF Capt) a staunch Liberal supporter.