Over the Edge ¢ February 6th 2013

JUSTIN TRUDEAU VISITS UNBC

HANNA PETERSEN
NEWS EDITOR

Bidding for leadership of the Liberal Party
of Canada, Justin Trudeau has embarked on
a Canada-wide tour and on January 23rd he
paid a visit to UNBC’s Prince George campus.
Before being elected as MP for Papineau in
Quebec in 2008, Trudeau was mostly known
for his famous last name. He is, of course,
the son of former Prime Minister Pierre Elliot
Trudeau. Pierre Trudeau remains one of the
most iconic Prime Ministers Canada has ever
known. The phrase “Trudeaumania” was even
coined in 1968 to describe the excitement
generated by Pierre Trudeau’s entry into the
Liberal leadership race and subsequent federal
election.

While the phrase ‘Trudeaumania
was not thrown around on January 23rd when
Justin Trudeau addressed the campus, the
jam-packed NUSC event space filled with
people of all ages, eager to see and hear Mr.
Trudeau speak, indicates there is a certain
excitement surrounding Trudeau’s bid for the
Liberal leadership that has been fairly absent
in contemporary Canadian politics. However,
a debate does exist in the political discussion
regarding Trudeau’s qualifications to run the
party versus his celebrity. And if there ever
was a Canadian political celebrity, it would
undoubtably be Justin Trudeau. A quick Google
search for his name on the 23rd revealed many
articles regarding the first Liberal leadership
debate that had taken place on the 20th; all of
them addressed the same thing - that Trudeau
had trimmed his hair. Trudeau’s longer curly
brown hair does stand out from the crowd,
but the fact that it is a serious topic of media
attention also indicates that Trudeau is not your
average political candidate.

When a focus on appearance either
triumphs over or accompanies political
discussion, the politician under scrutiny is
usually a woman. However, the focus on
Trudeau’s appearance may be because Trudeau
is simply not known first and foremost for his
political stance but instead for his name and
relative celebrity. The liberal leadership race

may change the nature of Trudeau’s celebrity,
however, as he travels the country addressing
communities and discussing political issues
concerning Canadians.

His address at UNBC was focused
mainly on the engagement of young people
in both politics, community leadership, and
the future of the Liberal Party. “The fact that
this generation doesn’t pay much attention to
politics, doesn’t vote any greater than 30-35%
when our seniors tum out to about 80%, for
me is never a reflection of this generation but
a condemnation of the way politics is done,”
said Trudeau. “Members of Parliament have
now become spokespeople for the Prime
Minister’s office in their ridings, rather than
being representatives for their ridings in
government and we have to turn that around.”
Trudeau continued to address the wider issues
of the nature of politics, again noting that youth
disengagement may not be rooted in apathy but
instead in the embittered nature of politics. “We
have to make politics about something that is
positive again. It is no more or no less then how
we choose to organize ourselves as a society,”
continued Trudeau. “It is not inherently evil or
inherently dysfunctional. It is what we make
it and right now we have to choose to make
it better. That is why over the past year and
coming months I’ve been getting out across the
country to start conversations like this where
I talk about how important it is that you have
your say.”

When he finished his formal address,
Trudeau took questions from the crowd. The
first was a rather lengthy question about Old
Age Security but the discussion eventually
moved on and Trudeau addressed the nature
of the Liberal Party. With the Conservatives in
power and the NDP as the official opposition,
the Liberal Party has seen better days. Thus
when asked why we need a Liberal Party right
now and why he had chosen to run as a Liberal,
Trudeau took the opportunity to redefine the
essence of his party in Canadian politics.

“The Liberal Party isn’t a party of the
left. It’s not a party of the right. I don’t even like
using the phrase ‘party of the middle’ either,”

said Trudeau. “We have two parties, one in
government and one in opposition, that are
ideologically based. They have a framework
to see society and the solutions they offer.”
Trudeau continued to note how the Liberals
differ from the other two. “We are a party of
pragmatically based values. The kind of values
that are Canadian values. The way we articulate
those values into policies is about what works.
Ideas from the left, ideas from the right. Sure,
where does it work and what does the science
say - we are not bound to rigid framework.”

When asked about addressing
differing conceptions of land ownership
in treaty negotiations in British Columbia,
Trudeau noted that the question is rooted
in a larger question about how we build
partnerships with First Nations peoples. “It’s
about how we move forward right now with
an accumulation of decades and centuries of
broken relationships, in a positive way,” said
Trudeau. “When we look at issues like Idle No
More, we see a tremendous energy at a grass
roots level by many young people and others
in First Nations communities. The challenge
of leadership that is not being fulfilled right
now is to take that energy and direct it in a
positive way to create change and growth.” In
the same discussion Trudeau also commented
on a growing awareness of a need to change
the way we interact with land and resources. “
We are reaching a moment in our civilization
where we can no longer base our habits and
our functioning on the things that got us to this
place. The short term maximization of resources
and a detachment of consequences. We have to
shift our thinking towards being much more
sustainable in the long term. Understanding we
do not inherit the world from our parents but we
borrow it from our grandchildren”

Trudeau ended the question period
and his visit to UNBC with a question regarding
Canada’s military. After summarizing our role
in the First and Second world wars and our
changing identity as peacekeepers, Trudeau
made a case for the importance of making
Canadian military a priority. “A Canadian
soldier is received differently on the ground
then anyone else. Because of the imperialistic
and economic might of the United States and

\

PROUDLY PROVIDING RENTAL CARS, TRUCKS,
AND VANS TO RESPONSIBLE ADULTS 25 AND OVER.

UNDER

the Colonial back ground of many European
countries means they are greeted with a
suspicion. People know you are not there to
conquer. You are not there to exploit. You are
there to help and that is extremely powerful,”
said Trudeau. “Having an agile and effective
Canadian military need to continue to be a
priority. A Canadian by dint of the diversity
with which we grow up surrounded engages
differently than any other soldier from any other
country and that is precious and something we
need to continue to invest in.”

Trudeau’s visit to university ended
with groups of people sticking around for
handshakes and pictures. The result of the
Liberal leadership race will not be up to the
media outlets who find an easy angle in the
length of Trudeau’s hair it will come down to
the supporters of the Liberal Party who will
decide the winner and there are eight other
candidates . But as voting for this race is open
to anyone who is not a registered member of
another political party, supporters of the Liberal
Party can and may be exclusively supporters of
Trudeau. Because, as anyone who saw or met
him on the 23rd knows, politics aside, he has a
way with people.

1-800-327-0116