Trudeau wins Liberal leadership, Conservatives come out swinging
Tories immediately spread messages about lack of judgment, experience
OTTAWA — Justin Trudeau vowed to work hard for Canadians’ trust and support over the next two years as he was named federal Liberal leader Sunday.
“I take nothing for granted,” the 41- year- old Montreal MP said in his acceptance speech after a landslide win. “I understand that trust can only be earned. And my plan is to earn yours.”
Trudeau secured about 80 per cent of the vote from Liberal supporters, an overwhelming first- ballot victory — 45 years to the month after his father won the same position.
Vancouver MP Joyce Murray came a distant second, along with her call for co- operation with the NDP and Greens in the next election, followed in third place by former MP Martha Hall Findlay.
Attention now turns to how Trudeau plans to not only rescue his party from the brink of extinction, but also help it recapture its former glory as the country’s so- called “natural governing party.”
Trudeau put Liberals on notice that he won’t be cruising through the next two years until the next election — and he expects them to pull their weight as well.
“We have won nothing more and nothing less than the opportunity to work even harder,” Trudeau said. “Work even harder to prove ourselves worthy of leading this great country.
“We face enormous challenges,” he added. “Helping the middle- class make ends meet. Reconciling economic growth and environmental stewardship. Playing a positive and meaningful role in the world. To rise above these challenges we must demonstrate our audacity and ambition.”
Within minutes of Trudeau’s victory, the Conservatives indicated the strategy they will pursue in attacking him.
In a statement, the party said: “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.”
Trudeau warned his followers that the Conservatives were already making negative phone calls about him to Canadians.
Much of his victory speech focused on the Harper Tories
At the heart of ( the Conservative Party’s) unambitious agenda is the idea that ‘ better’ is just not possible.
JUSTIN TRUDEAU LIBERAL LEADER
and what he called their “unambitious agenda,” as he sought to position himself as a political leader who will fight for more than the status quo.
“The Conservative Party will now do what it does … it will attempt to convince Canadians that we should be satisfied with what we have now,” Trudeau said.
“For at the heart of their unambitious agenda is the idea that ‘ better’ is just not possible. That to hope for something more from our politics and our leaders, more humanity, more transparency, more compassion, is naive and inevitably leads to disappointment.”
Trudeau said Canadians want more — but they will only support the Liberal Party when they feel the party is there to actually serve them.
“( Canadians) want something better,” he said. “They refuse to believe that better is not possible.
“But Canadians will not suffer fools gladly. Canadians turned away from us because we turned away from them. Because Liberals became more focused on fighting with each other than fighting for Canadians,” he said, a reference to some of the bitter infighting that has marred the party in the not- too- distant past.
Trudeau cruised to an easy victory after a five- month leadership race whose most noteworthy moment came when former astronaut Marc Garneau decided to drop out last month.
Some have questioned whether Trudeau was ever really challenged during the campaign, but Liberals are banking that what they’ve seen so far proves the eldest son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau is ready to follow in his father’s footsteps.
Trudeau will face several challenges over the next two years as he works to bring his third- place party back from the political wilderness. He will have to overcome perceptions he is a parliamentary lightweight, and lead his party in the cut and thrust of the House of Commons.
He will need to maintain momentum while fending off Conservative attack ads.
And he will be forced to give up what some have called his “no- policy policy” and explain more to Canadians about what he stands for and what he would do if elected prime minister in 2015.
Trudeau promised to work toward all those goals.
“I know that you will judge us by the tenacity of our work ethic,” he told Canadians, “the integrity of our efforts and, come 2015, the clarity of our plan to make our country better.”