Pierre Trudeau, darling of the liberal intelligentsia and federalists, comes under renewed examination in a book to be published next week. Former Glendon professor, Monique Nemini and her husband Max have written about Trudeau's youth, his high school and university days, and reveal he was a Quebec ultra nationalist and ravid Catholic who even espoused violent revolutionary acts to create a independent French and Catholic state in Quebec. They disclose that he also was involved in a fascist group in the province.
None of this is particularly surprising, not does it distract from his later commitment to federalism, Canada, the rule of law and fundamental justice. As Tom Axworthy (former Trudeau staffer and now director of the Institute for Public Policy research at Queen's U) said on Mike Duffy Live yesterday, few of us would want to be remembered for the things we wrote in high school. I can identify with that sentiment. Kudos to the Neminis for writing things Canadians deserve to know and for expanding the body of knowledge about Trudeau. Note too, that they claim Trudeau did not destroy evidence of his youthful ways, knew what the Neminis planned to write and did not discourage them.
However, if the revelations serve to take some of the saintly glow off the Trudeau name, that will be good. There are those who are living in anticipation of Justin Trudeau entering politics and single-handedly saving the Liberal Party and Canada. They are encouraged that he has agreed to participate in a task force to animate the youth wing of the party as it prepares for the leadership convention this autumn and develops a policy agenda for renewal. But I am not convinced (not withstanding the Bush family success in America) that a generational transfer of political power is a sure thing. Witness the dismal success to date of the Kennedy children. Surely we can do better than grasp desperately at straws.
