This boy is definitely a "chip off the old block"

As the Federal Liberals go through yet another leadership race in the hopes of finding someone to lead the chosen people out of the wilderness, I can't help but marvel at the desperation in their ranks.

Although one has to ask, why would we expect this race to be any different from ones of the past. In the last decade the Liberal party has certainly had some interesting potential leaders, looking back to 2006 they also produced a bumper crop of poor choices for party leadership.

Michael Ignatieff
Half the battle was teaching voters how to pronounce his last name (honestly, I never mastered it), but that was the least of the challenges facing the Liberal party with Michael. Here was a Canadian who moved to the United States, lived there for almost 30 years, crooned publicly about the wonders of living as a pseudo American, and then when he thought he could take the Liberal leadership and possibly become Prime Minister he parachuted back into Canada. Well as we all know he did become the leader of the Liberal party and went onto lead the party into a federal election that resulted in the Liberals almost being wiped of the face of the Canadian political map. Upon being soundly defeated, old Michael stepped down and now splits his time between teaching positions in Toronto and Harvard. Alas, a true Canadian patriot.

Bob Rae
Need I say more? As the former NDP Premier of Ontario, Bob was instrumental in leading that once successful province down the road of financial ruin. Bob made even America's President Obama look like a spendthrift when it came to holding the reins on the public purse. Once he had left a trail of fiscal destruction in his path he moved on and set his sights on the top job in Canada, Prime Minister. Now old Bob knows an opportunity when he sees one, and when the Liberals needed a leader he was not about to let the fact he was a card carrying member of the NDP party stand in his way, he simply jumped ship. However, what he couldn't leave behind was his record as Premier in Ontario, much to his dislike that stench clung to him and he was beat out by Michael Ignatieff. However, after Michael moved on Bob did get the job of acting party leader for the Liberals and the good news is that he could hold most of his caucus meetings in a broom closet.

Now , back to the present leadership race. The shining star in this one as far as most Liberals are concerned is Justin Trudeau, the son of former Canadian Prime Minister (and international playboy), Pierre Trudeau. Now amongst many Liberals, Pierre is held in the same reverence as say John Kennedy is with American Democrats. However most of us remember him better as the guy that flipped Canadians "the bird" from the back of the train on his way out of town or as the Prime Minister who coined the phrase "fuddle duddle". Someone who as a nation we could all be proud of, mind you I understand he did date Barbara Streisand.

So can we expect more from junior?

Well many Liberals are hopeful that his last name will guarantee him four or so years living at 24 Sussex Drive (the PM's official residence). However I suspect not, I personally attribute a higher level of intelligence to the Canadian electorate. Frankly, other than being born under the right lineage he is a political lightweight who tends to speak without a lot of forethought. Here is a classic example of comments Justin Trudeau made in a November 2010 interview in French on the Télé-Québec program Les Francs-tireurs (The Straight Shooters). Trudeau took the opportunity to take aim at Alberta politicians, and argued Canada was better off in the hands of leaders from Quebec.

"Canada isn't doing well right now because it's Albertans who control our community and socio-democratic agenda. It doesn't work"

But wait, it gets even better when asked whether he thought Canada was "better served when there are more Quebecers in charge than Albertans," Trudeau replied,

"I'm a Liberal, so of course I think so, yes. Certainly when we look at the great prime ministers of the 20th century, those that really stood the test of time, they were MPs from Quebec.... This country, Canada, it belongs to us." In case you haven't guessed Trudeau's "us" translates into "Quebec" for the rest of the nation.

Now here is a guy that "all" of Canada can get behind. Frankly if the Liberal party chooses this guy as their next leader I can only imagine it is because they are politically suicidal and simply wish to end their own misery.

Trudeau’s campaign strategists say that he intends to fight the anti-Alberta charges with deeds, not words, promising to spend a lot of time in the province during the next five months of the leadership campaign to show he has not written off the province.Now isn't that comforting to know That Mr Trudeau has decided not to "write off" us folks in the west. Frankly, Prime Minister Stephen Harper may have his flaws but at the very least he is an Albertan thru and thru, and views Canada as one country.