He is the eldest son of former Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau and is the second child in Canadian history to be born while one of his parents was prime minister; the first was John A. Macdonald's youngest daughter Margaret Mary Macdonald. Trudeau earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in literature from McGill University and a Bachelor of Education degree from the University of British Columbia. After graduation, he worked as a social studies and French teacher at West Point Grey Academy and Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School in Vancouver.
Decent, if not impressive credentials for any 48-year-old married father of two, don't you agree?
-- Based on the above thumbnail sketch there's every reason to be proud?...Most certainly!
-- Excellent potential to succeed in any walk of life. Why not?
-- A little too young and naive to be thrust into the meat grinder of national politics...Yes! Lacking in exposure to life in the real world? Again, yes!
-- Ill-advised in some actions, both policy-making and on the world stage? Can't help but agree!
-- Difficulty getting his words out when pressured by probing media questions? Embarrassingly, yes?
Still, young Justine Trudeau is our duly elected head of state. He gives every indication of having Canadian interests at heart and he is applying himself to the best of his ability to the responsibilities of the PM's office and all that goes with it. Regardless of how we vote, he is deserving of respect and a degree of latitude. He is showing signs of maturity, but perhaps not soon enough, nor fast enough for some people. While a natural target for all and sundry, in his defense he does not act alone. He has a cabinet and a government behind him. It is not the "Trudeau government", it is the "Liberal government" or, to be honest, "the government."
Mind you, there is a very good reason for how I have worded the introduction to this post. And I am being very careful to ensure that I stay as neutral and bias-free as possible in what follows, as distasteful as it is sure to be. While I am placing emphasis on Trudeau, the thesis is applicable to politicians of all stripes.
Political hostility in Canada is more and more becoming personal hostility. New findings suggest that the sources of dispute in contemporary life go far beyond ideological differences or mere polarization. They have become elemental, almost tribal, tapping into in-group loyalty and out-group enmity and by degrees it is killing unity in our country.
And you know what? There have been 13 Canadian prime ministers during my lifetime -- William Lyon Mackenzie King through to Stephen Harper -- and none of them were subjected to the amount of disrespect, insults and indignities being directed at Justine Trudeau in his short time in office. Admittedly, toward the end of his tenure Stephen Harper may have come a close second.
Quite honestly, I can't believe some of the trash talk and abuse coming out of Canadian mouths. As Prime Minister, Trudeau (as Harper before him) is simply undeserving of such hurtful treatment and indecency.
Quite honestly, I can't believe some of the trash talk and abuse coming out of Canadian mouths. As Prime Minister, Trudeau (as Harper before him) is simply undeserving of such hurtful treatment and indecency.
While common fodder for coffee shop conversations -- you overhear it every day -- online social media has become the prime cesspool of insults, generally from cowards who really have no argument but are able to vent venom anonymously. Still others have become so emboldened as to not conceal their identities when voicing crude opinions and hurling insults on personal timelines. Really, when you stop to think about it, who wants to read that kind of constant bitching and complaining anyway.
I view it as personal assassination and it is uncalled for and unfair in a nation that otherwise prides itself in being humane and nice.
To illustrate my point, I took it upon myself to extract words of hate and insult levelled at Trudeau from just one online thread the other day. Here goes:
- liar
- cheat
- failure
- dumb
- idiot
- menace
- clown
- sick
- nut job
- incompetent
- mental twinky
- buffoon
- trash
- treasonous
- bed wetter
- crayon eater
- ghoulish moron
- wicked (illumati puppet)
- lunatic...
The list could go on but I'll cut it off there because I'm becoming nauseous just writing it. You too?
Why is viscous name calling so prevalent in political discourses today? So un-Canadian -- or at least it used to be. Somehow this inhumane trend has to stop. Trudeau may be shielded from a lot of it but an impressionable public gets it adnauseam.
It’s time for us to choose between a course of further fracturing our shared humanity or imagine friendships rooted in difference, respect and oneness. “A—-hole” politics, language and labels diminishes all. Lowering the temperature and improving our argument may be good for all of us because who we are defined as a people is at stake.
It’s time for us to choose between a course of further fracturing our shared humanity or imagine friendships rooted in difference, respect and oneness. “A—-hole” politics, language and labels diminishes all. Lowering the temperature and improving our argument may be good for all of us because who we are defined as a people is at stake.
By all means let healthy debate continue, freely expressing ourselves and offering viable solutions when possible. Be critical when criticism is justified. But please, leave harmful insults, name calling and personal attacks out of it. Sarcasm reflects poorly and gains nothing.
If you cannot make a point without demeaning someone's character, then you really do not have a point at all and you are wasting everyone's time.
If you cannot make a point without demeaning someone's character, then you really do not have a point at all and you are wasting everyone's time.
Think twice before speaking or venting your thoughts in writing, is a good axiom. We don't always have to be seen as clever, politically astute tough guys in order to make an impression.
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