Purge is Trudeau’s latest rebranding move
Leader focused on repairing Liberals’ image
OTTAWA — Justin Trudeau’s bombshell decision to dump 32 senators from the federal Liberal caucus this week is just the latest in a string of moves designed to turn the page on his party’s reputation for arrogance, corruption and entitlement.
The sponsorship scandal, a long history of patronage appointments and a firm belief they were the country’s natural governing party all coalesced a decade ago to stain the Liberal brand and contribute to its steady decline to third-place status.
Since being elected leader last April, Trudeau has sought to change this image by:
Promising to end the longstanding tradition of Liberal leaders using their power to appoint candidates in some ridings. Now, open nomination battles will be held in all 338 ridings.
Spending most of his time criss-crossing the country recruiting Canadians to volunteer for, donate to and support the party.
Making his party the first to publish travel and hospitality expenses online.
Akaash Maharaj, former national policy chair for the Liberals, said Trudeau has also ended the decades of divisiveness that plagued the party and contributed to falling fortunes and a disconnect from average Canadians.
Some will question whether these changes represent a real shift in attitude within the Liberal party, but Maharaj said they are “clearly a journey away from the party’s old identity.”
Trudeau has said his decision to sever ties with the 32 senators is about eliminating partisanship and patronage, and returning the upper chamber to its original purpose as a place of sober second thought.
It also appears to seize the agenda on Senate reform from both the Harper government and the NDP in a single stroke. Yet in many ways, ejecting the senators from the Liberal caucus was also the next logical step on the path to rebuilding the party.
Robert Asselin, a University of Ottawa professor and one of Trudeau’s advisers, described the senators as “great individuals who have served the party.”
“But as you’ve seen with his leadership campaign, (Trudeau) started from the proposition that we needed to rebuild the party from scratch,” Asselin said. “Justin brings a generational change. Politics is obviously cyclical, and at one point people are looking for the next generation to step up and change things. And I think that’s where we are in the cycle.”
The move also shows that Trudeau “doesn’t owe anything to anyone” within the party, Asselin said, which gives him enormous freedom to act on his promises.
Maharaj said the fact Trudeau was able to singlehandedly eject the senators without significant pushback is unprecedented.
“This is not a party he has inherited,” Maharaj said. “It is a party he has control of. It shows very much that this is Justin Trudeau’s party.”
There will be some costs, starting with a dramatic drop in representation from western and northern Canada inside the Liberal caucus. Now the Liberals will have only one caucus member from Manitoba, one from Saskatchewan and two from British Columbia. There will be no members from Alberta or the territories.
The Liberal caucus also loses some of its most experienced parliamentarians, as well as some star power with well-known senators such as Romeo Dallaire no longer able to speak for the party.
A national poll conducted by Angus Reid immediately after Trudeau’s announcement Wednesday found more than half of respondents approved of the move, and less than one in five disapproved. But more than one-third were undecided, while respondents were almost evenly divided on whether the move was “bold” and showed leadership, or merely a stunt “aimed at minimizing damage to the Liberal party.”