This article is part of our series Counter-Counter-Counter-Point. For a more positive spin on Trudeau’s ambitions, check out Zoe Knowles’ take.
In these tumultuous times for Canada’s political landscape, Liberal leader and Canada’s sweetheart Justin Trudeau boldly announced that he doesn’t have the time for silly things like political platforms, taking a concrete position on issues, or even showing up to question period, for that matter. He’s too busy wooing Canadians left and right by auctioning off Trudeau-themed scarves and dinner dates.
Appearing in the House of Commons (the House he hopes to lead in the near future) is so not fetch nowadays, probably because, according to some pundits, Trudeau doesn’t perform very well in there. Instead, the Liberal leader has been going out on dinner dates with Liberal voters. I’m all for making a personal connection with Canadians, something that Mr. Harper hasn’t done so well (read: at all), but since he became leader of the Liberal party, Trudeau has spent a remarkable amount of time literally selling himself to the Canadian public, clearly misunderstanding the recent SCC ruling.
When our very own Canadian superstar attends these meetings with voters, his every move is captured by a team of dedicated cameramen, directors, and PR people. The Liberal party then releases videos of these dinner dates. They are punctuated by Trudeau’s bold, Tumblr-worthy statements. But, like most deep statements of this kind, they range from strange and oversimplified to downright ridiculous.
Take, for example, this gem at the 1:15 minute mark of the aforementioned video Dorothy’s Story: “I deeply believe that if you get elected by dividing people, it then becomes really hard to govern for everyone.” If Justin opposes winning elections by dividing people, how does he plan on winning a democratic election anytime soon, without dividing people, roughly speaking, into those who like him and those who don’t? Or does he suppose he can adopt the Chinese model of “soft dictatorship”, for which he had previously declared his support? Create a one-party system under the Liberal– no, the Justin Trudeau Party – and thus get 100% of the votes, dividing no one and governing, supposedly, for everyone?

China exercising its soft dictatorial powers on a happy and totally not divided populace.
Jeff Widener
As gaffes like these ensue whenever the liberal leader tries to talk on a serious subject, maybe the Liberal PR team is right: it would be a good idea for Justin to stay out of Canada’s House of Commons, and never show up. Ever.