Will We Have a Haircut for a PM?

Today's new poll concerning the possible fate of the Liberal Party in the next election (if Trudeau were elected leader), demonstrates at the very least that recent talk of the death of the Liberal Party were greatly exaggerated. I have said for a while now that the Liberal Party under Trudeau could form the next government, and this poll confirms that many people feel this way. The unfortunate thing is that, despite Harper's pathological hatred for them, the Liberal Party really is not that different from the Conservative Party. Of course, part of the potential popularity for Trudeau is, I think, that people perceive him to be more "left" than the last few leaders. That, of course, means little since a) Trudeau's political goals are not clear yet, and b) Liberals are now famous for campaigning far left of where they end up governing. However, if Trudeau did end up leading the party more to the left (and given the contemporary political climate, how far right they have gone already, and the way Harper has positioned his party in public perception at least, it seems impossible that Trudeau could go anywhere but left, at least a little bit) it would probably be a good thing for many centrists in Canada who feel, (wrongly of course) that there has been no political home for them. For leftists, on the other hand, a renewed Liberal Party would be bad news since a new Liberal Government would mean status quo in terms of the real problems of economic inequality etc.

There is, however, one bright spot in this news for all of us who despise Stephen Harper. Few things would be as satisfying than seeing Harper defeated by the very party that he thought he had destroyed. And to give the occasion even more rich with narrative irony a greater satisfaction would be Harper being defeated by a guy with Trudeau as a last name. Of course, make no mistake, If Trudeau did get elected leader of the Liberal Party and Trudeau began to look unbeatable (despite the relentless, ruthless, and surely dishonest attack against him that the Cons would mount) there is NO WAY Harper would subject himself to that kind of defeat. He would either take drastic steps (and we all know the kinds of things of which he is capable) or he would resign. So despite it all, I doubt we will ever see Trudeau beat Harper in an election, alas.

Regardless of what happens my real hope is that the next government, whether it is Liberal or NDP, will actually bring some accountability to the House of Commons, that it will not continue the dangerously anti-democratic turn that has occurred under Harper, and that it will take a serious look at real, legal investigations into the many laws that the Harpercons have broken.