Canada has a new Prime Minister

11 years ago

I'm not really into politics although I do vote in every election . As of last night we have a new Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau. His father, Pierre Trudeau, was Prime Minister in the 1960's, 70's and 80's. Just thought you'd like to see his photo. He's in his early 40s, has a wife and 3 children. He is very well liked.

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rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

11 years ago

I was going to ask how our Canadian brothers and sisters felt about the results. I'll wish everybody all of the very, very best.

Our youngest Presidents were 43, too. They both made a name for themselves. :-)

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Comments (29)

Jasdip
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Here's an updated photo, not a glamour shot, and with short hair. Now it's a waiting game to see what he can do for our country and keep his promises.
caseynfld
Original Author
11 years ago
Can't be any worse than Harper, now can he?
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In 2008, we had an election. There were five parties running, and the Conservatives, which resulted from an amalgamation of a couple or three right-wing groups, including what had for years been one of our major parties, the Progressive Conservatives, had more of their candidates elected than did any of the others. The other major long-term party is the Liberals, and they were led by a man who was making a major issue of environmental concerns, but was not a good publicist. Our Prime Minister, from Calgary, has not developed a reputation as an enthusiastic environmentalist. The third party, New Democrat, is a social democratic one, which some folks label as socialist, but they have been more successful than some of the more traditional parties at running balanced budgets when in power in some provinces than have the traditional parties ... and learned long ago that "nationalizing" businesses isn't a cure-all. The fourth one, Bloc Quebecois, is the separatist party that has substantial support in Quebec, but none elsewhere, and the fifth, the Green Party of Canada, which has run several candidates in recent elections, has yet to get one elected, as we follow the "first past the post" rule", with the candidate getting the most votes being the winner, and they, running against three other candidates in most elections, don't get the largest number. Proportional representation would allow them to have some members in Parliament Each party picks a leader, who runs in one constituency, and the voters there are the only ones who get to vote for him ... after the election, the Prime Minister is the leader of the party that got the most members elected. There have been times when the leader chosen by a party was rejected by the voters in his riding, which usually meant having him run in a special election somewhere else, or the party choosing another leader. The Conservative Party won the most seats in 2008, but didn't have a majority of the members of Parliament ... and they didn't have a majority of all of the votes cast, either. After that election, our Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, said that he was going to be more co-operative (as many felt that he had not been markedly so in his first term as Prime Minister). Within a few months, when Parliament met and the government was preparing a budget, there were several provisions in it which made the members of the other parties so angry that they joined together to say that when he brought that budget in, they'd vote against it, which would mean that the government failed, which usually results in another election ... but they said that they would form a coalition and put together a government instead of the Conservatives, so an election wouldn't be needed. The Prime Minister said this was terrible - that they all knew that he had the most members elected, and the people wanted him to govern ... but the other parties said, together, they had more members than did his party. Furthermore, that more people had voted for them than for his party, and that's the way parliament works. The Prime Minister said that it was terrible that the other major parties were willing to play footsie with a party whose avowed purpose was to break up Canada! This about the time of a major financial crisis in our countries, that you may have heard about - though less major up here than south of the border. So ... ... the Prime minister prorogued Parliament, that is, shut it down for a while. Started it up again after a few months. We have a Senate, as well, composed of members chosen among outstanding Canadians from time to time by the Prime Minister of the day. For a number of years, the Liberals had been in power and had chosen a number of Senators with, shall we say, affinities for the Liberal view of the world. Mr. Harper has been claiming that a number of his pieces of legislation have been held up in the Liberal-dominated Senate, plus about a year ago said that their government was not going to run deficits ... ... but when the depth of the recession became apparent, and the home-grown auto companies about to go bankrupt ... ... provided massive stimulation to the economy for both auto mfg. and infrastrructure. When Parliament had a recess over last Christmas, Mr. Harper said that his government needs a good deal of time for the complicated process of preparing this year's budget, cutting back on expenses, so instead of returning just before the end of January, partially closed parliament down, to re-open early in March. Certain embarrassment regarding whether prisoners captured by Canadian Forces in Afghanistan who had been turned over to the Afghans had been tortured, which the government denuied, but later turned out to have a substantial degree of validity, may have been a contributing factor. It would be a lot more interesting to bask in the reflected glow of the Olympics, in Vancouver, as well. Not only that ... prorogation allowed the Prime Minister to fill several Senate seats which were empty due to resignation, age or death, which would allow him to have a majority of Conservative supporters in that other august chamber. You can see the temptations under which he laboured. Good wishes as you proceed with your labours ... with a minimal number of temptations, I hope. ole joyful
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Jasdip
11 years ago
Like I said, we'll see what he does. I didn't mind Harper. He reduced the GST as he promised, when the previous Liberals promised to reduce it, then didn't. He brought in the TFSA, and other things.
plllog
11 years ago
Well, he looks more like a prime minister in the second shot, but isn't he awfully young? Is he riding on his father's coattails? I don't follow Canadian politics very closely, but I do hear some and I've never heard of him before. What's he like?
caseynfld
Original Author
11 years ago
Jasdip I'm not going to discuss politics here, it just gets too emotional.

Pllog, he can stand on his own two feet, his father passed away in 2000 so I don't think it's a matter of riding on his coattails. I believe he is 43 years old.

Justin has been in politics for a while, so he's not a newcomer.
blfenton
11 years ago
He's the second youngest PM elected after Joe Clarke and he has been an MP since 2008.

I'm on the west coast and it doesn't matter who is in power, we are ignored. Having said that, I am glad our area voted Liberal - just in case we do want something.
joyfulguy
11 years ago
I helped for 12 hours (plus an hour ahead and over two hours after, counting and being checked, so leaving home at 10 to 8 (30 mile drive to be there by 8:30 to prep for 9:30 start) and not getting home till 12:30 a.m. today meant that it was a long day.

Rural area- about 9 votes in our poll for the guy of the party in power before to 5 for the guy of the party newly into power ... and one for the party that was in opposition before and was near to leading early in the LONG 7 week prep. time for this election (and about 1/2 of one for the guy running for the Green Party).

Last year when I helped for our provincial election ... I found it hard morally to cash the pay cheque, as I have paid next to no provincial income tax for several years.

ole joyfuelled ... who voted early
phoggie
11 years ago
I hope our neighbors to the north has elected someone who will keep you safe and your economy strong!
Cherryfizz
11 years ago
I can't comment on politics as I am still employed by Elections Canada but I like Justin and think he will do very well. Like Casey stated, he isn't a newcomer to politics. Ed, I worked 18 hours on Election Day in our Returning Office starting at 7 am to replace any of my poll workers in our Riding that were not able to make it to their polls. The calls coming in started even before I got there so I was busy for a few hours then we spent the rest of the day answering questions called in from workers and also from voters wanting to know where they vote and then at 9:30 answering calls coming in with the results. I left the RO at 1:00 am. Day off today and back in Wednesday.
stacey_mb
11 years ago
I like Trudeau, who is a breath of fresh air for the country. I have to admire Trudeau or anyone else who wants to be the leader of a country. It's a huge undertaking and often a thankless job. Hopefully it will be a help to him that his father was PM and talked about politics as Trudeau grew up.
plllog
11 years ago
Well, if nothing else, we really envy you the short period your national campaigns run. For next year's election, over a year away, they've been hashing it out for a few months already, mostly positioning themselves to gain money to see who is electable on the basis of how much money can be raised!

Rhizo is right. Our presidents of a similar age have been standouts. Thanks to those who've informed me that Mr. Trudeau is not a newcomer. I wish him great success in office--but not enough to upset the country. :)
justlinda
11 years ago
I'm out west also, the furtherest out west you can get....Vancouver Island. We must remember that Justin has ties to British Columbia. His mother is from this side of the country, and Justin was also a teacher out here. As an aside, his youngest brother died in an avalanche out here and his body swept into a lake and never recovered.
chisue
11 years ago
The Chicago Tribune tells us Canada had three 'parties' in this election. One was Conservative. One was Liberal. And then there was Rock Star. I'm old enough to remember that women all over the world were ga-ga over Trudeau senior -- who disappointed them by marrying a young woman many years his junior -- mother of your new P.M.

Bless you, Canada, you know how to have a nice, short election 'season'.
caseynfld
Original Author
11 years ago
Short? It was 11 weeks, the longest campaign since 1872, we were all sick of it by election day, LOL!
plllog
11 years ago
Hm....good point, Casey. Our two year slug fests have us already sick of the candidates after a few months, but maybe it's a good thing? Vote for the one (or the electors assigned to that one, really) who, after two years of campaigning, annoys you little enough that you're willing to put up with 4-8 years more.
rob333 (zone 7b)
11 years ago
last modified: 11 years ago
Congrats! My (ETA: French Canadian) boss just showed me this ironic quote:

"Tonight we'll dispense with the formalities. I'd like to toast the future prime minister of Canada: to Justin Pierre Trudeau," Richard Nixon said at a gala buffet in April 1972
marilyn_c
11 years ago
He is very handsome.
chisue
11 years ago
Is that nose French or Scots?
caseynfld
Original Author
11 years ago
He's definitely French!
caseynfld
Original Author
11 years ago
Robb, interesting, I never knew Nixon said that!
fran1523
11 years ago
Wish you well Canada. I hope we can get as lucky v
marcammons
11 years ago
justinda

I think you forgot those of us who are more west than Vancouver Island
joyfulguy
11 years ago
Hi Rob ... and all

The one that Nixon referred to was Pierre Elliot Trudeau - the dad.

o j
marcammons
11 years ago
read it again...he toasted Justin
caseynfld
Original Author
11 years ago
No OJ, you're wrong, it was Justin he was referring to.
joyfulguy
11 years ago
Oooops - wrong ... again.

o j
rob333 (zone 7b)
11 years ago
:) It's ok. that happens
amicus
11 years ago
In 2012 Justin Trudeau was pitted against a 'rival' politician, (a Conservative Senator named Patrick Brazeau,) in an annual charity boxing match, to raise money for cancer research. Trudeau's opponent was more muscular, has a black belt in karate and was a former member of our military. But I guess Justin's past experience with boxing and his determination weren't taken into consideration by the odds makers, because he surprised many people by winning! His opponent who lost the bet, had to cut off his ponytail in our House of Commons and wear a shirt with Trudeau's Liberal Party logo for one week, lol! http://news.nationalpost.com/news/canada/the-mp-vs-the-senator-which-politician-will-win-a-sold-out-charity-boxing-match

Canada has a new Prime Minister

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7

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Jasdip

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