Liberal MP Massimo Pacetti (Saint-Leonard-Saint Michel, Que.) told The Hill Times he will be supporting Mr. Trudeau (Papineau, Que.). Mr. Pacetti said in another interview outside the Commons that even if the leadership election next April turns into a coronation, he believes that Mr. Trudeau is the right choice for Liberals to battle both the NDP and Prime Minister Stephen Harper (Calgary Southwest, Alta.) and the Conservative party in the next federal election.
“If that’s what happens, that’s what happens,” Mr. Pacetti said in response to questions from Omni News about a potential coronation.
“Unanimity around Justin, I don’t think there’s a problem,” Mr. Pacetti said. “If there’s going to be unanimity around any other candidate that’s going to declare, I don’t think it’s a problem. I think our competition is not among ourselves. I think we have enough competition out there between the NDP and the Conservatives.”
Mr. Pacetti told The Hill Times that he has decided to support Mr. Trudeau’s candidacy, even though the son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau is not expected to announce his intention until next Tuesday in his Papineau constituency.
“We’ve been friends for a while. We have neighbouring ridings, we’re together a lot—whether it be a social level or as Parliamentary colleagues—it’s not a difficult decision for me, I’ve known him for a while,” said Mr. Pacetti, who was first elected in 2002.
Mr. Trudeau will also receive caucus support from Liberal MP Scott Simms (Bonavista-Gander-Grand Falls-Windsor, Nfld.), who discounted a spurt of Twitter attacks against Mr. Trudeau, some from Conservatives as news of Mr. Trudeau’s plan to run ignited social media, particularly among the majority of young tweeters who embraced his candidacy.
“Of course, it shows that he’s got strength,” Mr. Simms said about the Conservative targeting, which began weeks ago following Mr. Trudeau’s statement in June that he would reconsider an earlier decision not to seek the leadership.
Though he said he will support Mr. Trudeau, Mr. Simms diplomatically pointed out no formal announcement has been made.
“I’ve known Justin for about six years. He has to make that decision by himself, with his family, but I know that if he does, I think he’s got the character to do it, I think he’s got the brains to do it, and he has a vast knowledge of this country,” said Mr. Simms, first elected in 2004.
“Not only does he have the knowledge, but he lives this country,” he said. “My mother always said the best way to be in politics is to walk a mile in someone else’s shoes, and I think Justin can do that. I think he’s the most qualified person that I know to do that as a pan-Canadian.”
Liberal MP Hedy Fry (Vancouver Centre, B.C.) said she will hold off from stating her support until candidates declare, but hinted she also may be supporting Mr. Trudeau and that other MPs will also line up behind him, which is a key indicator of eventual success and support in the contest, which officially begins Nov. 14.
Liberals directly or indirectly confirmed Mr. Trudeau, who was first elected in 2008, has organizers in place from Newfoundland and Labrador to British Columbia. Katie Telford, a senior consultant with Strategy Corp., in Toronto and wife of Liberal commentator and consultant Rob Silver, will be the campaign director. Gerald Butts, a former political aide and campaign organizer for Ontario Liberal Premier Dalton McGuinty, will also be a close campaign adviser.
Mr. Butts, president of World Wildlife Fund Canada for the past three years, was also once an assistant to one of the Liberal giants in Pierre Trudeau’s Cabinet, Cape Breton legend Allan MacEachen.
Mr. Butts was on a World Wildlife campaign on British Columbia’s West Coast Wednesday and could not be reached.
Liberals informed The Hill Times that one of British Columbia’s top Liberal organizers, Bruce Young, a senior adviser to former Liberal prime minister Paul Martin, will lead Mr. Trudeau’s campaign team in the province. Steve Kukucha, another top Liberal organizer in British Columbia who was an assistant to former federal environment minister David Anderson in the Cabinet of Jean Chrétien, will also be organizing for Mr. Trudeau, the Liberals said.
One of them pointed to large crowds for Mr. Trudeau as he quietly travelled rural areas of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan this summer as evidence to contradict Conservative commentary that Mr. Trudeau will be burdened by lingering resentment against his father in the region, particularly over the wildly unpopular Liberal government’s National Energy Program of the early 1980s.
“He drew at least 200 people at every stop,” the Liberal said.
In Toronto, Mr. Trudeau’s team has recruited Michael Levitt, the manager of Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett’s (St. Paul’s, Ont.) election campaigns and a close friend to Trudeau. Mr. Levitt, who hosts Mr. Trudeau on visits to the city and is an active and prominent member of Toronto’s Jewish community.
“My riding association [members] will be supporting lots of different candidates, but I have a feeling that Michael will be with Justin,” Ms. Bennett said.
Original Article
Source: hill times
Author: Tim Naumetz
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