Don’t let U.S.-style politics creep in

Re Trudeau riding high after first year, April 13

This large two-page article documenting handsome federal Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau’s first year in office shows him as a “rock star” politician, noted for his fund-raising abilities. This is Americanstyle politics and hopefully it will not become part of the Canadian political landscape.

The fact that he was able to fundraise better than the other two major political parties isn’t something that Canadians should admire. He’s handsome, rich and had a famous father who was prime minister so that makes fundraising easy, I think. But where is the substance? U.S. politicians fundraise constantly, looking toward the imminent election day. That could be why nothing gets done in the House of Representatives in a timely manner.

I take my politics seriously and am certainly not impressed by his fundraising abilities. I would rather like to see how he performs in his role as Liberal leader in the House of Commons. He should be in the House learning how to do his job. He certainly hasn’t had much experience as a politician.

He could be learning from Official Opposition Leader Thomas Mulcair on how to address the issues of the day and hold the government accountable. On occasion he does take Mulcair’s position on issues, like the latest one, the Fair Elections Act, which is being proposed by the majority government in Ottawa. But where are his original ideas?

Hopefully, Canadian politics will not become focused on who can raise the most money and run the flashiest election campaign.

Sandy Forester, Bolton