(Reuters) – Justin Trudeau, son of charismatic former Canadian leader Pierre Trudeau, said yesterday the race to find a new head of the minority Liberal party was about ushering in someone with “vibrant ideas” who could help the struggling middle class.
The younger Trudeau, lauded for his charisma as much as he is criticized as lacking substance, is part of a crowded field of nine leadership candidates vying to bring the once dominant party out of the political wilderness. He is a member of Parliament from a Montreal district.
“For the first time this is about bringing forth a new generation of leadership with bold ideas, with strength and vision,” Trudeau said in Vancouver, British Columbia in the first of a series of leadership debates.
Trudeau is looking to recreate the excitement that surrounded his father when he was first elected in 1968, with the ultimate aim of unseating the Conservative Government of Stephen Harper, which won a majority government in 2011.
With an army of followers on Twitter, Trudeau is the front runner in the race to head a party that has shrunk to third place in Parliament for the first time in its 145-year history.
Trudeau, like his late father, stands for a united Canada and a foe of separatist forces that have long dogged politics in his home province of Quebec.
The separatist Parti Quebecois was returned to power in a narrow provincial victory late last year.
Marc Garneau, a former Canadian astronaut and member of Parliament, spoke of protecting environment, saying he had been around the earth hundreds of times and knew something about protecting the planet.
“This leadership race must be about new ideas,” said Garneau, sometimes seen as someone to challenge Trudeau’s front runner status.
The candidates generally expressed strong support for the middle class and affordable housing, while accusing the Conservative government of disregarding the environment in its bid to exploit Canada’s massive oil sands resource in Western Canada.
Joyce Murray, a member of Parliament from Vancouver, landed a direct hit on Trudeau when he was talking of a way to oust the current prime minister from office.
“If you want to replace Stephen Harper, where is your plan?” Murray asked of Trudeau in a direct exchange.
Trudeau, a former school teacher who is married with two children, is often criticized as running on his name, which carries the same dynastic weight in Canada as Kennedy or Bush in the United States.
The Liberals governed Canada for nearly 69 years in the 20th century, but were reduced to only 19 percent of the popular vote in the 2011 election.