Has the Time Come for a New Era of Trudeaumania?

By Adrienn Keszei

NEW YORK, Oct 21—The Liberal Party won the October 19 Canadian election with an unanticipated majority of 183 seats in parliament, vaulting them from third to first place in Parliament in the course of only one election. Their victory signals the beginning of a new era after 15 years of mostly unstable politics due to minority governments and weak majorities. The voters demonstrated their readiness for a more activist government to take immediate action and stimulate economic growth, which was a cardinal point in the party’s political campaign.

As Liberal leader Justin Trudeau is expected to take office on November 4, 2015, Canada will take a sharp turn away from long-serving Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s conservative politics. After the exceptional political turnaround for Trudeau’s party, he will have the responsibility to make sure the government delivers on its campaign promises. He also has the additional burden of following in the footsteps of his father, Pierre Trudeau, who dominated Canadian politics for decades—inspiring a sensation called Trudeaumania—and held the post twice during the 1970s and 1980s.  

Justin Trudeau is the first child of a former Prime Minister ever to be elected to head the government. Pierre Trudeau’s government had remarkable political achievements, so the new Liberal leader, who at 43 is also the second-youngest Canadian prime minister to hold the post, is now under significant pressure to prove himself as the head of state and also as a worthy successor of his father’s political legacy, although the campaign was consciously trying to distance him from the former prime minister in order to paint him as an independent political figure.

‘Justin’, as he was often called during his campaign, used to be in the public eye as a child, but after his father left office, he lived a relatively private life, graduated from the University of British Columbia and became a teacher. However, in 1998, an unfortunate accident forced him back into the limelight; his youngest sibling, Michel, died in an avalanche in British Columbia during a skiing trip, which inspired the eldest Trudeau son to campaign for improving avalanche safety measures.

In spite of Conservative attacks on Trudeau, which dubbed him an inexperienced “pretty boy” not ready to govern a country, the prime minister-elect expressed his support for the Liberal Party from a young age and used his public status to advocate change and speak out about various issues. For instance, he inaugurated the Trudeau Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Toronto with his brother Alexandre, in 2004, he was part of a public campaign against a zinc mine to protect a UN World Heritage Site, and in 2006 he was part of a rally to promote Canadian support in the fight against the Darfur crisis.  These examples of Trudeau’s previous public activities demonstrate his interest in a wide variety of issues and his willingness to take action and bring about change.

His political beginnings go back to 2007, when he was nominated in the Papineau riding. In 2008, he became a Member of Parliament, and got re-elected three years later. He was an exemplary young force within the Liberals—in 2009, he was chosen to be the party’s critic for multiculturalism and youth, and appointed a year later as critic for youth, citizenship, and immigration. Although many encouraged him to run for leadership of the Liberal Party, he declined the offer several times, citing his eagerness to focus on his young family, until in 2012 he finally declared his intention to run for leadership.

After he takes office, Canadians can expect policy changes in economic, social, and environmental policies, as well as in the country’s foreign affairs.

In his campaign Trudeau committed to stimulate the economy, which will not be an easy task, considering the present low prospects for future growth. In order to boost the economy, he plans to double the national infrastructure spending, creating a short-term deficit. He also proposed to increase taxes on those earning more than $200,000 a year, in an attempt to help the less affluent by lowering the taxes for middle-class citizens.

Trudeau indicated that his government would accept 25,000 Syrian migrants by January 2016, and invest a large sum of money to improve the progress of refugee application procedures.  He is also expected to create a new line of social policies. The significance of fundamental rights in relation to religion and ethnicity will be highlighted, as indicated by the Liberals’ strong opposition regarding Harper’s previously proposed ban on public servants wearing the Muslim headscarf known as the niqab. During his campaign, Trudeau also proposed to drop visa requirements for Mexicans, reversing previous policies implemented by the Conservatives.  

Similarly to the Australian policy changes after Turnbull took office, Trudeau aims to change Canadian environmental regulations considerably, in which the Paris Climate Change Conference this December will be a turning point. He plans to reduce carbon emissions and work out strategies to support each province to achieve the new environmental goals.

A decisive change of direction is expected in Canada’s foreign affairs too, as Trudeau has often indicated his willingness to restore relations with Iran, after Harper’s government cut all ties with the country three years ago. The future prime minister also wishes to create a new strategy to battle the Islamic State, and withdraw Canada’s bombers from the conflict in the Middle East.

Trudeau, similarly to Obama in 2008, built his campaign around youth and change – even his campaign slogan, ‘Real Change Now’, alludes to that of the American president’s campaign slogans – putting huge pressure on himself. It has yet to be proven whether or not the Liberals can keep up their upward trajectory and bring about the change they promised to the Canadian people.