The Liberals and the NDP look to the future

Both of the major federal opposition parties emerged strengthened from their gatherings this past weekend.

While the next federal election is still more than two years away, both the Liberal Party of Canada and the New Democratic Party have positioned themselves for that coming campaign: the Liberals, by choosing a new leader in Justin Trudeau; and the NDP, by rallying behind their still somewhat new leader, Thomas Mulcair, and assuming a more mainstream policy orientation.

The major focus was on the Liberal affair. It was, after all, a leadership convention and next to an election, leadership conventions offer the most compelling theatre that politics offer.

It is true that this Liberal leadership contest — if one can call it that — was notably lacking in drama, certainly compared with the last Liberal convention in 2006 where the party leadership was up for grabs. That was the spectacle in Montreal that went to four ballots and produced the surprising triumph of Stéphane Dion. This time, it was really no contest from the start; Trudeau pretty well had it in the bag from the moment he said he was in.

What was compelling about this Liberal leadership event was the Trudeau star power in full glow at centre stage, and the coming together of the Liberal party after nearly three decades of fractious infighting. This is as vital to the party’s prospects as Trudeau’s elevation, in that the internal divide under the leadership of John Turner, Jean Chrétien and Paul Martin contributed in large part to the party’s demise as a natural governing party.

The first salvo from the Conservative Party’s attack machine has been launched, and it was as predictable as Trudeau’s firstballot election: “Justin Trudeau may have a famous last name, but in a time of global economic uncertainty he doesn’t have the judgment or experience to be prime minister.” That may be a fair shot, but Tories might recall that when Stephen Harper first ran for the leadership of the official opposition party of the day in 2002, the Canadian Alliance, he was only two years older than Trudeau. What’s more, he had served only a single term in Parliament, while Trudeau is into his second.

They might also keep in mind that another former Conservative leader and prime minister, Brian Mulroney, came to the opposition leader’s job with zero parliamentary experience. And while the rap against Trudeau during his leadership bid was that he was bereft of substantial policy proposals, no less than Mulroney advised in his memoirs that leadership contenders who try to run with a detailed program are bound to lose.

What Trudeau did manage to do was to run an error-free leadership campaign, inspire some 12,000 volunteers to rally behind him, and entice supporters to donate more than $1 million to the party. While some sneer at his good looks, distinguished pedigree and charming personality, these are tremendous assets for any politician.

As for the NDP, it held its largest-ever policy convention in Montreal, and ditched much of the socialist baggage that marginalized it in past elections. Mulcair is no Jack Layton — or Justin Trudeau, for that matter — in terms of personality or charisma, but he has the party firmly behind him.

Current polls show the NDP has slipped back to its traditional third place in federal party standings, and the Liberals have vaulted to first from the third to which they had slipped in the last election. But polls two years removed from an election mean little in the long run.

What appears certain after this weekend is that the next election, when it comes, will be a showdown for the ages.