The federal election of 2011 was the worst election in history for the Liberal Party of Canada. Once dubbed (by themselves) “Canada’s natural governing party,” the Liberals finished third, with just 18% of the popular vote across Canada. It seemed that years of infighting and a leadership shuffle that moved quicker than musical chairs had sealed the Liberal fate. Perhaps most astonishing was the Liberals’ loss of their strongholds in Ontario and Quebec.
Fast-forward to 2014, and that result seems hard to believe. The Liberal party is again polling number one in most polls, and fundraising is matching Conservative levels. Anyone who has watched TV in the past year can probably guess why: Justin.
The charismatic new leader is kicking political ass and taking names. In an Ipsos Reid poll asking which federal party leader would make the best Prime Minister, 42% said Justin Trudeau, beating current PM Harper by 8 percentage points.
Indeed, the numbers would seem to show that Justin Trudeau has a real shot at winning the next Canadian election, a thought that apparently has Stephen Harper quaking in his boots. Since Trudeau assumed leadership, the Conservatives have been up to their old dirty political games of cheap shots and smear campaigns. It seems you can’t have a conversation with a Conservative without them bringing up (and ridiculing) Justin Trudeau’s pro-cannabis-legalization stance.
According to a Toronto Star article, the Conservatives are planning an orchestrated sabotage of the upcoming Liberal convention in Montreal, in an attempt to spread their message that Justin is “in over his head.”
Among some of the commission’s great ideas include handing out “ZigZag rolling papers screened with Trudeau’s face.” Yes, you read that right: because marijuana is so dangerous, the Harper Conservatives want to hand out rollies at a Liberal convention. Stay classy, Stephen.
Despite the negativity from the opposition, or perhaps because of it, Justin’s Liberals are in a great spot to take back a significant chunk of the seats held by the Conservatives and the NDP.
The real test will be whether they can keep spinning the attacks in their favour until 2015.