I have like most of us, been watching the progress of young Justin Trudeau through Liberal advertising and newscasts in general, not to mention the Tory attack ads which I find appalling.
I worked briefly for his father Pierre as I a young “advance man” in 1968, and was more than once the unwilling object of his Judo talents.
I was thinking of this particular family because I am flying to Montreal next week, landing at Trudeau Airport. Strange to be arriving at what used to be named Dorval which ironically PM Trudeau tried to shut down after force building the boondoggle Mirabel which is now shuttered due to its unpopularity. How amusing history is eh? Named after a PM who wanted it closed. Ha.
Pierre Trudeau was the most interesting of our modern Prime Ministers. I say modern for I will always think of MacDonald and Laurier as our best and most interesting PMs with Mackenzie King our worst and mad in the bargain.
Trudeau shot around Montreal during the Second World War on a motorcycle wearing a German helmet shouting “Heil Hitler”, while the mayor of that city languished in jail as a suspected traitor. PET was rich and a confirmed socialist, who was arrested in Moscow for throwing snowballs at Stalin’s statue and also in Miami while trying to canoe to Cuba.
He divorced his wife Margaret, who was photographed “going commando” in Studio 54 in New York. Yikes.
When he passed away after mixed reviews as a PM and his son Justin introduced himself to the country with his lovely eulogy, only two “world leaders” attended, the one term President, Jimmy Carter and President for life, Fidel Castro. A disappointing turn out to be sure.
We will see how Justin Trudeau matures into his role, while avoiding the well known mistakes of his parents.
Leave a Reply