Trudeau leadership run raises risk of another Liberal ‘coronation’
OTTAWA — Federal Liberals are facing the prospect of a short list of candidates for their upcoming leadership race following confirmation that Justin Trudeau will throw his hat in the ring.
Many Liberals have been practically giddy over the dream of Trudeau’s name being on the leadership ballot — something that will become reality when the 40-year-old MP officially announces his candidacy at an event in Montreal next Tuesday.
But it is also no secret that a number of other prospective contenders have been waiting for Trudeau to lay his cards on the table before deciding to pony up the $75,000 entry fee and challenge him for the job.
The question now is how many will opt to save their money and fade out of the leadership conversation rather than face the celebrity star power that threatens to unleash a second iteration of Trudeaumania.
Trudeau, seemingly enjoying the attention and excitement revelations of his pending candidacy had generated, refused Wednesday to confirm the upcoming announcement when confronted by journalists.
“Thank you very much for all your interest,” he said at one point as he left a weekly meeting of Liberal MPs and senators.
“I’m pleased to hear all the buzz and all the interest in the Liberal party’s fortunes, but I have nothing to announce today. I will let you know when I have something to announce.”
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Fellow Liberal MP Denis Coderre, who will announce whether he will run for the leadership on Nov. 9, said he welcomed Trudeau’s entrance into the race.
“I think that the more we are, the better it is,” he said. “We need to have a real campaign, a real convention this time. It’s not a coronation.”
But that may be exactly what the leadership campaign becomes now that Trudeau is involved — whether Liberals like it or not.
Trudeau is already a huge draw for Liberal events and fundraisers and has a massive following on social media sites such as Twitter.
The fact the party will for the first time let non-members vote in the leadership campaign is also expected to tilt the playing field in his favour.
Most prospective candidates have publicly denied their decision was contingent on whether Trudeau would run, but Liberal MP John McCallum acknowledged the real threat that others will opt out.
“I think there’s a risk that his candidacy will scare off others and that we could be heading for a coronation,” McCallum said.
“There are other names out there as possibilities, and those people won’t necessarily be discouraged by Justin’s candidacy.”
Several other Liberal MPs who have confirmed they are considering leadership runs refused Wednesday to comment on their plans or Trudeau’s pending candidacy.
In addition to the threat of other prospective candidates deciding not to enter the race, Trudeau’s candi- dacy also increases the possibility Liberals will look to him to singlehandedly save the party rather working to reconnect with Canadians.
Most Liberals acknowledge this is what happened when they chose Stephane Dion and Michael Ignatieff as leader in 2006 and 2009, respectively — resulting, they say, in the party’s declining fortunes.
Asked his reaction to Trudeau’s pending leadership run, NDP Leader Tom Mulcair said: “Let’s recall, the person who will eventually win this Liberal leadership race will be their seventh leader in nine years. I think they have a lot of things to resolve.”
The Liberal leadership race officially begins on Nov. 13, with the winner to be revealed during an event in Ottawa on April 13, 2013.
Trudeau, who has been MP of the Montreal-area riding of Papineau since 2008, initially said earlier this year he was not interested in the leader’s job.
That began to change after he scored an upset victory over a Conservative senator in a charity boxing match in March — an event that was considered a huge moral victory for the third-place Liberals.
When interim Liberal leader Bob Rae announced in June that he would not be seeking the permanent leader’s position, Trudeau publicly acknowledged he was considering a run.
But Trudeau, who has spoken in the past about the devastating impact politics had on his parents’ marriage and how it affected him as a boy, has also previously cited his young family when explaining why he was hesitant to throw his hat into the ring.