So if you haven't been paying attention to the news, you're missing some important information that is getting Canadian politics all in a titter. The Liberal party who has been struggling to get an identity, a face, a brand if you will since Chretien is about to get a lifeline. We all knew it was only a matter of time, but the Liberals are about to get an opportunity to elect a leader who promises something that makes Canadian political nerds like me very excited. He promises some very interesting Canadian politics. If you haven't figured it out, or googled it by now, Justin Trudeau is about to announce his intentions to run for Liberal leadership. Now if you're sitting there scratching your head and thinking "uh, so?" then I suggest you first slap yourself and then google Canadian history and previous Prime Ministers.
So, on a completely superficial level, holy moly! What a looker! Think about it Canada, if we were to elect him as Prime Minister, forget any and all great ideas he might have, we'd have the hottest world leader in the world! Possibly history! Seriously!! Okay, well, it is superficial, but lets be honest in this day and age, seeing him as a candidate on the ballot is going to get a lot of people who wouldn't take a second look at politics, take a second look. Which can either be good, or horrifically bad.
Now as you all know, I'm a supporter of the NDP. What I really liked about our late leader Jack Layton was that he engaged everyone and got the NDP to appeal to a new group of voters, which is younger people. Now God willing the NDP can do that again, but I'm not holding my breath. Whereas Jack Layton was a household name whether you were NDP or not, I had to stop and think for a second the name of Thomas Muclair and this is my party. Even though Jack had children who were older than me, he was able to engage a crowd much younger than me, something that older politicians don't seem very capable of these days. I think the last "young" politician elected to lead a party was Pierre Trudeau.
So Trudeau, (Justin) simply by the fact that he is not 50+ will automatically turn some heads of the younger crowd. I think that is a good thing, I mean, the younger crowd should be engaged in politics because it's important to vote and all that, but at this point, I'm happy they come by any way you can get them. It will be great to hear a new round of voices engaged and thinking further into the future than previous politicians (not Jack though lol). So I am truly excited by this. I have to admit, I'm more drawn to a younger leader. I admire the legacy that PET left behind in regards to Canadian human rights and I'm confident that his son believes wholly in them, but I'm also eager to hear things not just about maintaining our country at the status quo, but improving it exponentially because we have that potential. That is what Jack embodied, that is why us younger folks were so excited by him, that is my hopes for Trudeau, if it is, I, and I'm sure many other people who normally vote NDP and are my age might have a bit of a crisis. (This is your warning bell NDP).
And of course if the Liberals did elect Trudeau as their leader (they'd be stupid not to) they certainly would energize a lot of the older voters who are red or orange. God knows my mom is ready to gear up Trudeaumania the Sequel. Really, I think Trudeau is the Liberals best hope and by extension my best hope for getting rid of Stephen Harper and a good chunk of his cabinet (especially those doofuses who are trying to mess with a woman`s right to choose!). It will breathe some much needed life and energy into the Liberal party and I expect there will be plenty of newer and younger faces throwing their names in the hats in the different ridings.
Overall though, Canadian politics are about to get a lot more interesting. I can`t wait to see and hear what will transpire over the next little while and I`ll be counting the days til 2015.
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