Lawrence Martin in today’s Globe & Mail
raises a
very important question about what Justin Trudeau might do to change the
system:
Idealism is the currency of the young and, if Justin Trudeau is to succeed and the Liberal Party to have new life, a new sense of it is essential. His appeal should be one of broad scope.
It should be nothing less than an appeal to “change the system.”
Lawrence Martin: Change the system, Justin
The young are so turned off by how Ottawa operates that only a sweeping reform will suffice. Pierre Trudeau’s vision for stirring new interest in politics was “the just society.” Justin Trudeau’s should be “the new democracy” or something of that sort. It’s an appeal that cuts across party lines, regional lines and age barriers.
The opposition parties have railed about abuse of power, about how our democracy has deteriorated into near dictatorship, but have done so without offering much in the way of an alternative. Their proposed remedies have only amounted to tinkering at the edges.
Pierre Trudeau was not afraid to challenge the
status quo.
Nor was he afraid to offer Canadians big dreams, and to demand that
we reach beyond our complacency.
His Charter of Rights and Freedoms was a reach
for us: we had enjoyed freedoms before it was passed, but these were of the
piecemeal kind that the common law of Britain muddled through with. PET boldly
enshrined the concepts of rights in our constitution and gave the Supreme Court
the mandate to protect them.
Martin writes of “the new democracy”as a
possible them for Justin Trudeau’s mission should (when) be becomes prime
minister.
We will see over the course of the next six months whether Justin Trudeau will be content to be a member of the tinkering class, or whether – like his father – he is a bold man, with bold visions.
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