into the mystic

Jimmy Page photographed by Eddie Kramer at Olympic Studios in London, 1967. 

You could say that in 1968, this country was ripe for Trudeaumania. Less than a decade before, JFK had  taken office in the U.S. with all the pomp and ceremony befitting a celebrity. So when Trudeau came along with his ascot, leather jacket and “there’s no place for the state in the bedrooms of the nation”, and stuck it to Diefenbaker, the antiestablishment-obsessed, predominantly under-35 voting population just pounced.

Now it’s 2013, not 1968, and Justin isn’t Pierre. But I have to confess, every time I pass by someone reading a 24Hours or a Metro with Trudeau-Junior’s face on the front, I get all excited and hopeful.  

So Justin hasn’t really passed any legislation to speak of. And his platform is vague. And he’s prone to theatrics (though I have to say, he’s improved that now). But politics is never about individuals, and our future leader doesn’t have to be invincible. I have faith that the Liberals will surround him with the right people to help him along. Or maybe I’m just finding excuses to justify my excitement.

But I don’t WANT to have to justify my excitement. I want to be excited about Canadian politics. I want there to be anecdotes told about more dance moves he pulls off seemingly-spontaneously (but really as a clever mechanism devised by his PR-team). I want to read inane articles about some hilarious incident that transpired within 24 Sussex Drive. I want sound bites from his speeches to go viral on YouTube. I want to see unnecessary dissections of his wardrobe choices for when the Queen visits. I want Harper and Mulcair to be nervous for the next election. I want students in 50 years to look at a Canadian history textbook and see that the Liberals went from 34 seats in 2011 to 100+ in 2015.