Five things to know about Justin Trudeau one year after Liberal election win
OTTAWA — Canadians have no doubt learned a lot about Justin Trudeau in the year since he was elected prime minister. Here are five examples:
1. He plays his cards close to his chest. Before and during the election campaign, Trudeau would let you know where he stood on issues. Marijuana? Legalize it. Deficits? Down with it. Raise taxes on the top earners? Of course. But since coming to office, he has kept particular views to himself. On the specifics of building pipelines and electoral reform, for example, Trudeau doesn’t say what projects or voting system he backs. When asked about pipelines, Trudeau talks about the economy and environment going hand in hand, the need for social license and to work with aboriginal communities. “He’s a waffler in the grand Liberal tradition,” says Nelson Wiseman, director of the Canadian Studies Program at the University of Toronto. Trudeau likely has about two years at the most to push one or two major issues before he heads into re-election mode. He has spent the past year watching his polling numbers stay high and building political capital. What will he spend it on?
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2. He’s a different leader than his father. The opposition like to razz Trudeau about taking too many selfies and not focusing on the issues of the day. No one believes Trudeau isn’t authentic when he poses for pictures or shakes hands with domestic and international crowds, even though his staff works hard to make sure he can get a picture with anyone who wants one. Trudeau is more social than many anticipated, Wiseman says, including letting people connect with him through his family. Trudeau’s public image is opposite in many ways to that of his father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, who Wiseman describes as aloof and calculating: “You can’t imagine the younger Trudeau say, ‘Just watch me.’” The current prime minister conveys a sense of passion for the country that seems sincere, says Max Cameron, director of Centre for the Study of Democratic Institutions at the University of British Columbia: “That’s gold.”