Trudeau as Boy Scout

Liberal leader needs to engage to rouse voters

Comment from Ottawa It’s a strange paradox that Justin Trudeau was born the son of a politician but is not a born politician. Unlike his two rivals for power, he seems almost ambivalent to the cut and thrust of politics.

We met for a wide-ranging interview soon after Stephen Harper and Tom Mulcair had dropped the gloves in question period. “At least the leader of the Liberal Party knows when to stop getting up,” said the Prime Minister, to great gusts of mirth from the Tory back bench. Mulcair was equal to the barb, telling the Prime Minister that kind of arrogance could mean it was his last question period. When it was the Liberals turn to take on Harper, Trudeau stayed seated.

Yet Trudeau can do feisty. When we met Wednesday, I suggested that many voters feel he’s too unseasoned and too out of step with their interests. He didn’t appreciate the idea that he can’t connect with the middle-class voters whose cause he champions because he’s never lived their experiences first-hand.

“I was a high school teacher. I am a strong advocate for women’s rights and I’m not a woman. That’s an argument I summarily reject, particularly since I’ve spent the last three years building a political party, almost rebooting it from scratch,” he said, with some irritation.

“I’ve been listening more than speaking, and am deeply connected to people’s hopes and dreams. We are demonstrating that in the quality of our plan, the quality of our team and the style of leadership I represent — a fresh approach to leadership that is respectful and collaborative and is focused on drawing people into politics rather than turning them away.”

But too often for the liking of many Liberals, Trudeau takes a New Testament approach to politics.

He makes much of the fact that he’s not going to play the political game.

In an interview two years ago, he told me: “Who cares about winning? We should focus on serving.” In a scrum with reporters on Wednesday, he said his new electoral reform measures are “not about what might work to win a few votes — this is about what the country need to solve its challenges”. Yet if he doesn’t win, there will be no Liberal reforms — that’s his first responsibility.

“It’s been my principle from the beginning that I don’t want to play the politics of fear. You won’t hear me say about Mr. Mulcair that he doesn’t care about Canadians’ physical security,” he said during our interview.

It’s unlikely the NDP leader would reciprocate such boy scout sentiments.

Could that “collaborative and respectful” approach lead him into some form of postelection arrangement with the New Democrats?

“There are many things on which I have deep disagreements with Mr. Mulcair ... but I am willing to work with any party that puts forward legislation and initiatives that are in the best interests of Canadians,” he said.

Senior Liberals, very senior, suggest any Liberal or New Democrat who denies they would bring down the Conservatives, if Stephen Harper wins a minority in October, should be dismissed as a liar. Trudeau says he’s not “overly fretting” about what might happen postelection.

The Liberal leader appears to view the forthcoming electoral tussle as rather undignified. But, much as he’d like to remain above the fray, he is currently in third place and is going to have to engage, if he is going to rouse voters and shift political allegiances.

Still, Liberals must be happy to see their man back in the spotlight, proposing a radically different way of running the country.

Canadians may not be standing around their barbecues debating the merits of the mixed-member voting over ranked balloting — most voters think the problem is the politicians, rather than the system — but Trudeau’s “fair and open government” measures at least had the benefit of putting him back in the mix.

It’s a fair bet we will see a mini-revival in Liberal fortunes over the next few weeks, as voters look more closely at Mulcair’s NDP and some progressives drift back to the Grits because of their political reforms package.

My impression of the Liberal leader was of a man who has added some policy beef to his convictions. If he stumbles in a televised leaders’ debate it will not be because he doesn’t know the corporate income tax rate or the marginal tax implications of his economic policy.

It’s more likely he will falter because he fails to grasp an issue in his guts, rather than his head; that having tapped into a growing demand for change, he fails to persuade Canadians that he is in it for them and is the most capable agent of that change.

It’s been my principle from the beginning that I don’t want to play the politics of fear.

— Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau