The night Justin Trudeau was elected as Canada’s Prime Minister was nothing short of magical. I’m serious: On October 19, 2015, the Conservative government was finally ousted after a decade in power, Drake dropped his now-iconic video for Hotline Bling, and the Toronto Blue Jays — Canada’s only baseball team — won another post-season game, bringing it closer to a spot in the World Series (which didn’t happen, but still). So yes — magic, you guys: Even if we’re talking about Drake’s sweaters alone.
That night, I sat at the Lakeview Diner in Toronto, eating apple pie with one of my best friends as we kept our eyes glued to the TVs and our phones. Stephen Harper was out, Trudeau was in, and while I’d personally voted for the New Democratic party, I figured any prime minister had to be better than one who trampled on our environment, dismissed hundreds of missing and murdered indigenous women, and implemented a bill that extended the government’s paranoia and lust for control at the expense of Canadians’ right to free speech. Plus, as the internet kept reminding, Trudeau was handsome. So there was that.
But now, thanks especially to this month’s visit to the White House, his photoshoot with the Toronto zoo’s newly named baby pandas, and a picture of him holding a baby, Trudeau is less a Canadian prime minister and more a straight-up rock star. And that makes sense: His father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, was one of Canada’s longest-running (and most beloved) prime ministers, and after growing up in the spotlight — like Malia and Sasha Obama, who he addressed directly during the state dinner — Justin obviously knows how to work the political circuit. Firstly, because Trudeau’s career hasn’t been limited to politics (he’s been a boxer, actor and teacher), but most importantly because he seems like an actual human.
Actual humans (particularly in politics) are hard to come by. So as a Canadian, it makes sense that the rest of the world has embraced the new leader, especially since it’s rare to see world leaders engage with people and publicity in a way that’s typically reserved for the red carpet. So of course it’s exciting to see a young world leader cuddling panda bears. Of course Canadians will all be fine with a film dedicated solely to the adventures of Trudeau and Obama (and Sophie and Michelle too, duh). It’s super cool whenever a prime minister steps up to acknowledge aspects of Canadian politics that need to change and then begins to see some of these changes through — such as appointing a cabinet that “looks like Canada”. And I cried when I saw him greeting Syrian refugees at the airport last year (plus, a million points for Trudeau declaring himself a feminist, too). Trudeau is making Canada look great, especially in the wake of his predecessor who made us look ... well, I don’t know, I was hiding my eyes.
So all of this is exciting, and it’s wonderful that for the first time since the 1980s, Canada’s leader excites not just the constituents who elected him, but the rest of the world as well. Especially since Canada has a reputation for being calm, collected and relatively low key — frankly, it’s kind of nice to sit back, watch the internet freak out and then say, “Yeah, well we’ve always been great, thanks for noticing and how are you?”
But at the same time, Trudeau is also a politician; he’s a man who’s been elected to office based on his platforms and the promises he’s made. He seems like a sincere, reasonable person. But at the same time, we know he’s not perfect because no politician or human is.
So as a Canadian watching Trudeau’s public profile rise (and him embracing it), I’m relieved that he is the anti-Harper, and I’m thrilled he knows that putting himself out there is key to updating and overhauling Canada’s reputation. To watch him engage in a way our prime minister hasn’t for years and years is surreal — like getting a new boss at work and realising they were serious about you getting a full hour for lunch every day. It’s fun to watch the rest of the world lose it over someone we elected; to watch grown adults go wild over his hair and penchant for rolled-up sleeves. But I think we also know what he’s doing: damage control, following years at the hands of a man whose public persona was exactly as endearing as Ted Cruz’s.
Let’s remember that Justin Trudeau is also a leader and a person we elected in hopes of improving Canada. He earned the position for a reason, so while we may all be having a blast at our country’s newfound spot atop the meme pyramid, Trudeau must be more than just a great photograph. He’s a guy we need to be able to hold to account, to question and to challenge and to, if opportunities arise, champion and applaud. We owe it to him and to Canada to take a break from aesthetic-oriented rhetoric and focus on him as a politician. At least until he and Obama hang out again.
— Guardian News & Media Ltd
Anne T. Donahue is a writer and comedian originally from Cambridge, Ontario.
