Don't expect 'Iggymania'
LYSIANE GAGNON
From Monday's Globe and Mail
English Canada's nostalgia for Pierre Elliott Trudeau has become a chronic disease. The first symptom appeared at the funeral of the former prime minister, when an emotional eulogy by his handsome first-born son was enough to convince Liberals and the media that Justin Trudeau had in him the stuff to follow in his father's footsteps. (The young Trudeau was more realistic about his own capabilities; he did not run for the leadership and has been content to learn the trade as a discreet MP).
Once again, last week, the Canadian political scene went all feverish. As Michael Ignatieff was crowned leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, hopeful Liberals were breathlessly touting him as the reincarnation of Pierre Trudeau. Even this newspaper got overexcited, publishing a full page of pictures of the former prime minister to mark the advent of another "philosopher king."
Mr. Ignatieff himself was eager to play on this theme. He went so far as to say the Vancouver convention that officially installed him as leader reminded him of the one that saw Mr. Trudeau win the Liberal leadership in 1968. Now, as then, he had the "feeling" that history was being made. Mr. Ignatieff was there as a young delegate but his memory is obviously failing him.
The Vancouver convention was a lacklustre event that merely confirmed Mr. Ignatieff's quick election by the caucus. Even though, by all accounts, the delegates were united and the mood optimistic, it was attended by a relatively small crowd, at a time when the Liberal Party is still reeling from its worst electoral defeat in history. In contrast, the 1968 convention was a huge affair mounted by a proud and rich party that had many reasons to see itself as Canada's "natural governing party." There, the atmosphere was electrifying and the suspense high, since there were nine candidates, including several heavyweights, and it took four ballots to declare a winner.
"Trudeaumania" could hardly be duplicated. The phenomenon had two distinct causes. One was that Mr. Trudeau - erroneously seen as a "swinger" who liked to show off his glamorous dates and his athletic skills - came at a specific moment in history, at a time when the youth movement was shaking the world and people were thirsty for new, younger faces. Mr. Trudeau was an elegant, unconventional man of 46, a sharp contrast with the boring political figures of the time. The other factor behind "Trudeaumania" was national unity. Canada, then wallowing in unprecedented prosperity, had one major worry: the separatist movement that was growing in Quebec and had just received the forceful endorsement of French president Charles de Gaulle. Mr. Trudeau was the miracle answer to this anxiety: a brainy public intellectual who displayed a passionate commitment to Canada and would hopefully crush the separatists.
Since then, the mood in the country has changed radically.
Mr. Ignatieff wants to be seen as an inspiring leader - the man who will bind Canada's different groups together and forge an heroic role for the country on the international scene - but these existential issues are not on the radar of most Canadians, who are much more preoccupied with their threatened jobs and dwindling pension funds. They'd rather have competent and pragmatic leaders than visionaries. Besides, who or what is threatening national unity? Even the Quebec sovereigntists have stopped talking about sovereignty and there is no referendum on their agenda.
It's hard to see what could trigger an "Iggymania" as large in scope as "Trudeaumania" - a wave of popular sentiment that was actually, if truth be told, quite short-lived. It subsided as soon as the disenchantment caused by various Liberal policies settled in.
For the time being, "Iggymania" exists mostly in the imagination of those who are waxing nostalgic about Pierre Elliott Trudeau.
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