Justin Trudeau and Dave Huehn
Ottawa’s top dogs have recently been captivated by a politically inclined sports event. You will no doubt have guessed that I am referring to the boxing match between the conservative senator Patrick Brazeau and liberal MP Justin Trudeau.
True enough, the boxing match between the two pseudo pugilists had all it needed to impress the media gallery in Ottawa. After all, what better, on an otherwise boring Saturday night, than to see two politicians come to blows? Especially when one protagonist is a Conservative senator whose attributes recall the typical street kid, and the other is the son of Pierre Elliot Trudeau himself, playing the part of the handsome son, embodying every mother’s dream.
Even if the occasion was really about an unusual type of fundraising event for cancer research, each opponent having himself witnessed family members stricken by the terrible disease, the politicos chose to see in it a different narrative. With a politician named Trudeau in the ring, it took next to nothing for the old elitist guard devoted to the Liberal party to start dreaming again, since they see Canada’s future Prime Minister in him.
His victory has indeed revived hopes that he will conquer the voters when the Liberal’s race to the leadership finally starts. It seems quite extraordinary that a charity boxing match should be perceived as the ideal platform from which to win over a party’s leadership.
Is that what we have come to, in politics? Three rounds in the ring as the ultimate test of a leader’s character? Really! Just call me a skeptic. It is sad to see how many party followers still live so profoundly in the past. As if the very name of their spiritual leader was enough to lead them back to power’s Promised Land.
In fact, Justin Trudeau is not to be judged by his boxing qualities, but rather on his intellectual journey since his arrival on the political scene. And, we must admit, his performance in this regard has not been especially shining. Nonetheless, the nostalgia evoked by the epoch of his father’s glory days has an overreaching influence on some.
In fact, speaking about Justin’s father, the former Prime Minister’s name was in the news as recently as last week, courtesy of Fidel Castro. In one of his celebrated diatribes, the former Cuban president had nothing but praise for the former Canadian leader, and compared him to the present leader.
We can only surmise that it didn’t sadden Stephen Harper. I am quite sure that the Prime Minister prefers to leave this kind of praise to others, since the dictator took power forcibly, spending all of his energy oppressing his people and jailing dissenters. And that is not counting all the people who disappeared forever.
Meanwhile, our two antagonists could easily meet for a rematch. Maybe early on the morning of the leadership race. And what a marvelous platform that would be.
—
Translation Monique Kroeger
