His Father's Son

Justin Trudeau reminds Liberals who they're supposed to be. Is anyone listening?

Justin Trudeau has weighed in on the Quebec political debate, calling nationalism a small, old idea "from the 19th century" that has no relevance today.

Nationalism "builds up barriers between peoples" and has "nothing to do with the Canada we should be building,'' the eldest son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau said Thursday on Canada AM. ...

Without commenting directly on the Liberal contender, Trudeau called the idea of nationalism one "based on a smallness of thought that closes in, that builds up barriers between peoples and has nothing to do with the Canada we should be building."

"Some people these days are wrapped up in this idea of nation for Quebec, which stands against everything my father ever believed," he said.

But it's "something that is not relevant to the vibrant, extraordinary culture that is Quebec and of Quebec as being such an amazing part of Canada."...

Justin said what comes through "as clear as day" in Volume I of English's two-part biography is the evolution of his father's thought "away from nationalism -- towards a bigger view of Canada and of Quebec's role in it rather than folding back on this idea of a nation."

The political evolution of Pierre Trudeau is fascinating, and when I have more time I really, really want to read some bios of him. How a young man started out as, essentially, a Catholic Fascist Separatist and went on to become the Justice Minister who decriminalized sodomy and the Prime Minister who brought home the Charter of Rights and Freedoms should by definition be a fantastic read.