Son of the late PM no shoo-in for Liberal nod in Montreal riding
Apr 25, 2007 04:30 AM
Allan Woods
Ottawa Bureau
OTTAWA–Justin Trudeau's bid for the Liberal nomination in Montreal's working-class riding of Papineau could be derailed this weekend by a common front against him by his two opponents.
He decided to seek the nomination in February, initially running afoul of party leader Stéphane Dion, who had a preferred female candidate lined up for the riding.
Since then, the 35-year-old has also angered his opponents in the nomination battle.
Because he's seen as an interloper from his tony Outremont neighbourhood, there are suggestions of a backroom deal in which the likely second- and third-place candidates would combine to upset Trudeau on a second-ballot vote Sunday.
"It's an anybody-but-Trudeau story," a local Liberal organizer told the Star. "The thing that will make the difference is the deal making."
Trudeau said in an interview yesterday that he knows he has critics but that he has worked hard to build "street cred" in the urban riding by meeting with cultural groups and listening to their concerns.
"That's been my entire focus for the last two months. Being present, being very real, meeting as many people as I can – not just shaking hands, but sitting down and listening to them," he said.
"There's going to be naysayers on any decision. One of the things that I didn't want was for it to appear like I'd been handed anything on a silver platter. I work for things and I've never taken anything handed to me."
Trudeau's competitors for the Liberal nod are Mary Deros, a city councillor and community activist who has worked in the area for 20 years, and Basilio Giordano, a former city councillor and publisher of the local Italian-language newspaper.
The federal Liberals held Papineau from 1957 to 2006 when former foreign affairs minister Pierre Pettigrew lost by 990 votes to Vivian Barbot of the Bloc Québécois.
Pettigrew suggested that Deros run for the nomination at last year's Liberal leadership convention in Montreal. She followed through after hearing Dion plan to ensure one-third of his candidates in the next election are women.
She is baffled by Trudeau's decision to run against her.
"He's young, he's popular, he can be groomed, from what I understand and from what many people are saying, to be a future prime minister," she said. "But I would have thought that he would at least have considered the party line that they're trying to increase women candidates."
Both Giordano, who is Italian, and Deros, who is Greek, say they are playing to their ethnic roots in search of an advantage.
Party sources said the fight among candidates to sign up new members has brought in 1,200 Italian-Canadians, 700 Greek-Canadians and 275 French-Canadians. One thousand who identified themselves as "other" are believed to be of Asian, Indian and Pakistani background.
That would seem to favour Deros and Giordano, but it could just as easily work in Trudeau's favour, Giordano said.
"For some old immigrants, the name of Trudeau is still a myth. His father was a great prime minister and the people still remember his father's name," he said.
"But, having said that, I think Justin agrees that he has to start somewhere to show and to prove that he can win and start a political career."
As for any deal on combining forces to upset Trudeau on a second ballot, Deros and Giordano said it was too early for such speculation.
"We are planning to win this in the first round, if possible," said Deros. "If we don't ... we will make any deal necessary over there on the floor."
Trudeau's camp asked Deros' team about the rumours this week in a meeting, and said they had heard such a deal had already been formalized.
"I'm very wary of deals like that," Trudeau said.
"Any time there is a coalition that is based on anti-Trudeau or anti-anyone it worries me, particularly here in a nomination fight."
Even without the party infighting, the eldest Trudeau son remains a polarizing figure in his home province, if only because of his name.
The former prime minister was a staunch federalist who shook up Canadian politics and forged a national identity based on multiculturalism. But he also inflamed some francophone Quebecers and ignited western alienation.
One party organizer recalled a recent conversation he had with a Conservative party supporter, which he said demonstrates the two views of Trudeau.
"If Trudeau wins, it will be the most beautiful news for us in Quebec," the federal Tory said.
That may be so, the Liberal allowed, but a Trudeau win would boost party fortunes in Ontario.
"He's the saviour for Toronto," the Quebec Liberal said.
__NOTOC__


Justin Trudeau


Justin Trudeau, son of the late Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, has won his riding nomination for the Liberal Party of Canada in Papineau, Montreal, Quebec. To win he needed 634 votes. He received 690.

This is his first attempt at running for politics. His father was Prime Minister of Canada from the 1960s until the mid-1980s.

His two other competitors for the nomination were natives from the town; Mary Deros, a city councillor and Basilio Giordano, a former city councillor and journalist for a local Italian newspaper. Competitors for the other federal party's have not yet been chosen. According to reports Deros received 350 votes and Basilio Giordano received 220.

Trudeau will run in the 40th Canadian federal election, which must be called no later than February 13, 2011.

"I'm a teacher; I'm a convenor; I'm a gatherer; I'm someone who reaches out to people and is deeply interested in what they have to say," Trudeau said. "And people see that I'm not faking it. I'm actually genuinely committed to this dialogue that we're opening up, and this understanding that needs to happen in order to be an effective MP."

Trudeau does not live in Papineau. It is the poorest riding in Canada and the smallest. It consists of blue-collar residents.

The riding has a long history of Liberal MPs. In the 1949 federal election an Independent MP held the riding. Liberal Adrien Meunier was re-elected three times holding the riding from 1949 to 1962. Liberal Guy Favreau was re-elected once holding the riding from 1963 to 1965. Liberal André Ouellet was re-elected six times holding the riding from 1967 to 1984. Liberal Pierre Pettigrew was elected in 2004, he came in second to current Bloc Québécois MP Vivian Barbot, who won by 17,775 votes.

Trudeau, 35, is the second child born to a Prime Minister during his term in office to Canada's first, Sir John A. Macdonald, who had a his daughter Margaret Mary Macdonald during his time in office. He has a Bachelor of Arts of English literature from Montreal's McGill University and the Bachelor of Education from the University of British Columbia. He eventually became a teacher there.

He married French-Canadian television personality Sophie Grégoire on March 18, 2005. In April this year they announced they are expecting their first child. Since his youngest sibling Michel Trudeau died in an avalanche in 1998, Trudeau has been an active campaigner for winter sports safety. His younger brother Alexandre Trudeau is a journalist.

His father died on 28 September 2000 at the age of 80. During the state funeral, Trudeau, then 28, delivered an emotional speech which led to speculation in the media that a career in politics could be his future. He has also openly stated that he opposes Quebec nationalism. Trudeau put his support behind Liberal leadership candidate Gerard Kennedy during the 2006 Liberal Party of Canada leadership convention. Kennedy dropped out of the second ballot of voting and both he and Trudeau went on to support now leader Stéphane Dion.

===Results===




+Votes needed to win: '''634'''




Candidate

Votes



Justin Trudeau

690



Mary Deros

350



Basilio Giordano

220