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On Oct. 14, Justin Trudeau, the oldest son of former prime minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau, will be getting his first real taste of politics, when he tries to win back the riding of Papineau for the Liberal Party. NPEN's Martin C. Barry sat down recently for an interview with Trudeau. This is an abbreviated transcript.
NPEN: During this campaign, the Bloc Québécois and its leader, Gilles Duceppe, are talking about the Quebec Nation idea once again.
Trudeau: For me, the fact that Mr. Duceppe is bringing up again the nation question, that Mr. Harper even is bringing up national unity … for me those are two great examples of politicians who are getting a little bit desperate and who are trying to play what works for both of them very well, which are the politics of division. It's finding out where the differences are between people, playing on those, driving wedges between different communities. And that's not a game that the Liberal Party plays and it's not a game that I particularly like to play. You know, when I walk the streets, when I meet the people, the concerns are about jobs, about the economy, education, health, our neighbourhoods, affordable housing. This is the thing that people talk about. And to pull people together and talk about our common values and our common dream, that's where I want to spend my time in this campaign.
NPEN: Do you believe the Liberals' Green Shift policy is a good idea?
Trudeau: I think the Green Shift policy is an example of doing the right thing, even if it may seem unpopular at first. People know we need to take concrete action on the environment. Climate change is a reality and it's something we need to address head on. What the Liberal Party and Stéphane Dion have proposed is a plan whereby we'll tax polluters more, and we'll use the money that we'll collect from polluters to reduce personal taxes, to reduce taxes particularly on small and medium-size businesses. What that means in all is if an individual chooses not to change their behaviours towards less polluting habits, they spend about the same money on taxes as they did before. But if you start making smarter choices, buying a more fuel-efficient vehicle, riding your bike and taking the bus, or looking at better insulation in your home, then you start saving money on your personal taxes. So it's a very powerful, positive incentive to make sure that people do better for the environment.
NPEN: We are looking at a scenario right now involving a possible Conservative majority. The Bloc are preaching that they are the only party that can defeat the Conservatives.
Trudeau: I think you have to remember that the Bloc by definition cannot defeat and ensure that the Conservatives don't end up again at 24 Sussex and in government. The only party that can make sure that the Conservatives do not form the next government is the Liberal Party of Canada. And Mr. Duceppe is flailing at different narratives that he can try and bring up to make his party seem relevant …
NPEN: All the same the Liberals aren't doing so well in Quebec right now.
Trudeau: It's early on in the campaign. A campaign is a marathon and if you look at the headlines and the polls, there are people calling it done already … The messages that the Liberal Party is putting out there in regards to social justice, openness and responsibility to the future, is one that more and more is beginning to resonate on the ground.
NPEN: What leadership qualities do you find in Stéphane Dion?
Trudeau: It's a question I get a lot, a discussion we have an awful lot in the riding. People say, 'You know, we're not too sure about Stéphane Dion as a leader,' which, unfortunately, demonstrates that negative advertising does work, and the Conservatives poured much money into it. You talk to people about Stéphane Dion and one of the first things they always say is we recognize he's a very intelligent man, he has a tremendous integrity and he has a vision for Canada. And then I sort of sit back and say, 'So what aspects of a leader are you looking for then, if not intelligence, integrity and a vision?' Mr. Dion is a leader. He's just not the kind of leader that Stephen Harper is. Stephen Harper has a bullying model of leader. He doesn't listen to anyone but himself, he is not open and transparent in what he does, and he's very, very bossy and controlling. Well, yes, there are leaders like that, but I don't call them good leaders. Stéphane Dion is a good leader and he is ready to be prime minister of this country.
NPEN: What would your father have done to win the election if he was in Dion's shoes?
Trudeau: Obviously, I wasn't with my father on the ground planning elections when I was 12 years old. Actually, his last election was in 1980 and I was nine. I got to see how he loved reaching out to Canadians and connecting. But in terms of what my father would have done in this particular situation, I'll leave that to academics and historians to try and imagine. That's not my job. What I know is what I learned from my father and what I'm doing in this election … There's a trust in Canadians that I know my father passed on to me that he passed on to the entire Liberal Party, and that's really the trust that we're building with Canadians.
NPEN: What kind of a campaign do you think we'll see being played out in this riding?
Trudeau: I don't know what kind of campaign. Other people are going around. I've heard rumours of pretty vicious attacks against me, against federalists … I have nothing to say against Mme Barbot. She's been moderately present. I've seen her at most of the events that I've been at. She hasn't been to all of them, though, but she is present. The problem is she represents a fundamentally divisive group of people in the Bloc Québécois, who by definition will never have a strong voice in Parliament for the interests of this riding. This riding deserves better than that. A positive campaign on the ground is what I intend to offer people, because that is the kind of parliamentarian I count on being, and that's the kind of parliamentarian this country needs.
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