Since Pierre Trudeau still remains unavailable, the Liberals will be dusting off Jean Chretien Tuesday, and hauling him onto the trading floor of Toronto's Bay Street to help celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Joining the 78-year-old former prime minister on Tuesday's stage will be the (almost) 64-year-old (interim) leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, Bob Rae.
This is an old-timers' league. This is not the future.
The barely-breathing Liberals do not need another poll to remind them that the federal NDP leadership victory of Thomas Mulcair was the worst possible outcome for their party, the latest survey showing them bottoming out at 19%, their lowest national popularity score ever.
But what to do, what to do? How does the party get some positive ink?
Surely one cannot ask son-of-PET, Liberal MP and Papineau pugilist Justin Trudeau, to re-enter the boxing ring so soon after his first-round pounding, yet (admittedly) remarkable third-round TKO over Tory Sen. Patrick Brazeau.
But wait!
Have someone put out a call to le petit gars de Shawinigan. After all, wasn't he heard whining last week that the usually history-conscious Harper government had not approached him to participate in any official anniversary-related activities relating to the Charter?
"I don't know why they don't," Chretien complained. "The first of July, I never refused to celebrate it because John A. Macdonald was the prime minister (at the time of Confederation).
"It would be ridiculous to say, no, he was not a Liberal." Yes, it brings tears to our eyes, too. It's almost elder abuse.
But let's cut to the chase here, and lay out why Pierre Trudeau and his then-justice minister, Jean Chretien, so sorely wanted this Liberal-crafted Charter in the first place.
As many scholars have noted over the years, the only part of the Charter that truly concerned Trudeau was the section dealing with the mobility and language rights of French Canadians.
In other words, all Trudeau really cared about was the enforcement of "official bilingualism" on the rest of Canada -- the costly and ire-raising policy that, along with uncontrolled multiculturalism, continues to polarize our nation 30 years later.
Merci beaucoup for that.
Original Article
Source: toronto sun
Author: --
Joining the 78-year-old former prime minister on Tuesday's stage will be the (almost) 64-year-old (interim) leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, Bob Rae.
This is an old-timers' league. This is not the future.
The barely-breathing Liberals do not need another poll to remind them that the federal NDP leadership victory of Thomas Mulcair was the worst possible outcome for their party, the latest survey showing them bottoming out at 19%, their lowest national popularity score ever.
But what to do, what to do? How does the party get some positive ink?
Surely one cannot ask son-of-PET, Liberal MP and Papineau pugilist Justin Trudeau, to re-enter the boxing ring so soon after his first-round pounding, yet (admittedly) remarkable third-round TKO over Tory Sen. Patrick Brazeau.
But wait!
Have someone put out a call to le petit gars de Shawinigan. After all, wasn't he heard whining last week that the usually history-conscious Harper government had not approached him to participate in any official anniversary-related activities relating to the Charter?
"I don't know why they don't," Chretien complained. "The first of July, I never refused to celebrate it because John A. Macdonald was the prime minister (at the time of Confederation).
"It would be ridiculous to say, no, he was not a Liberal." Yes, it brings tears to our eyes, too. It's almost elder abuse.
But let's cut to the chase here, and lay out why Pierre Trudeau and his then-justice minister, Jean Chretien, so sorely wanted this Liberal-crafted Charter in the first place.
As many scholars have noted over the years, the only part of the Charter that truly concerned Trudeau was the section dealing with the mobility and language rights of French Canadians.
In other words, all Trudeau really cared about was the enforcement of "official bilingualism" on the rest of Canada -- the costly and ire-raising policy that, along with uncontrolled multiculturalism, continues to polarize our nation 30 years later.
Merci beaucoup for that.
Original Article
Source: toronto sun
Author: --
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