SEPTEMBER 21, 2019

Two Trudeaus, Two Challenging Elections

By Ian Austen

If nothing else, it was a week of Canada being at the center of worldwide attention, if not for desirable reasons.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Toronto on Friday.Carlos Osorio/Reuters

First, there was the arrest of a top level intelligence official at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police for passing along highly sensitive information. But that story took a distant second place on Wednesday night when the first photo surfaced showing Justin Trudeau wearing brownface makeup at an "Arabian Nights" themed fund-raiser in Vancouver in 2001.

Rather than go through the past few days events again, let me refer you to the series of articles Dan Bilefsky, my colleague based in Montreal, and I wrote over the last few days:

[Read: Trudeau Tries to Change Conversation From Blackface. It Doesn't Quite Work.]

[Read: New Video Surfaces Showing Trudeau in Blackface, Compounding Scandal]

[Read: Brownface, Blackface and About-Face. Is Trudeau Who He Says He Is?]

[Read: Justin Trudeau Says He Is 'Deeply Sorry' After Brownface Photo Surfaces]

The Opinion side of The Times, which is separate from News where I work, also asked writer Melissa J. Gismondi for her take on events. The department also published a letter from a reader who doesn't believe Mr. Trudeau did anything wrong.

The political fallout has yet to settle, and the story may have developed further in the time between my writing and your reading of this week's newsletter.

But on several levels, the latest mess for Mr. Trudeau add to the parallels between this vote and his father's second election campaign in 1972.

To look into this, I spoke with Robert Bothwell, a historian at the University of Toronto who will be speaking at a conference in October to mark the centennial of Pierre Elliott Trudeau's birth.

Former Prime Minister Pierre Elliott Trudeau in 1974.Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

Both men have been described as youthful and charismatic, and came to office on their own waves of Trudeaumania. But once in power, many voters soured on them. In 1972, similar to today, the economy was strong, Pierre Trudeau had successfully led the country through the October Crisis, became one of the first Western leaders to recognize the People's Republic of China and had fended off a potentially devastating trade war launched by President Richard Nixon.

"It wasn't so much about what Trudeau accomplished or didn't accomplish," Professor Bothwell said of the elder Mr. Trudeau. "That year there was something about how he presented himself, or allowed himself to be presented, that just didn't work. Pierre certainly didn't inspire people, seemed foppish: the feeling of bell bottoms and tie-dye and that kind of stuff."

At the end of the campaign, which featured the Liberal's widely mocked slogan, "The Land Is Strong," the elder Mr. Trudeau was returned to power, but with a minority government.

To be sure, there are significant differences between the two campaigns. Professor Bothwell noted that Robert Stanfield, the Progressive Conservative leader at the time and former premier of Nova Scotia, was well established as a political figure, while Andrew Scheer is relying on this campaign to introduce himself to Canadians. And the New Democrats were led by David Lewis, one of Canada's most prominent socialist political activists, in '72. This time around the party is led by a relative newcomer, Jagmeet Singh.

But both the 1972 and current campaigns were about incumbents named Trudeau more than any specific issue.

Professor Bothwell also noted another difference.

"The one thing people didn't see in Pierre was weakness and I guess people see that in Justin," he said.

How things will evolve this year is, of course, anyone's guess. But Professor Bothwell said that there was a major shift in the public's perception of Pierre Trudeau after '72 and that played a major role in his subsequent election wins. "The affection that was felt for Pierre in '68 vanished," he said. "But it was replaced by respect."

Judging from your replies to my request for your thoughts on this year's vote, there is immense interest in the current election among Canada Letter readers. So much so that I have to issue a blanket apology: While I read all of your notes, I've not been able to reply to all of them, unlike my usual practice.

Last week I also hoped to put highlights from your emails in this edition of the newsletter. But, of course, most of them were written before Wednesday night.

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May greeting supporters in Gravenhurst, Ontario, this week.Ian Willms for The New York Times

One thing, however, was very clear. Climate change and the environment in general are the top issues for the majority of people who wrote in. While not everyone said that they will be voting Green, a sizable number of you raised that possibility. Earlier this week, I was in Muskoka, the cottage region north of Toronto, to interview the Green Party leader Elizabeth May for an upcoming political profile.

Before the election is over, I will likely call out for your views again. In the meantime, The Times's Reader Center asked for readers' thoughts on this week's event and has compiled the highlights.

[Read: Canadians Ask if They Can Forgive Trudeau]

Trans Canada

The Toronto Raptors have brought out a line of branded hijabs. The team's senior marketing director said the idea was inspired by a Toronto group that promotes Muslim women in sports.Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket, via Getty Images

Toronto Raptors logos are appearing on athletic hijabs as a way to inspire Muslim women to participate in sports.
Dan Bilefsky reports on a panel at a DealBook strategy forum on legalizing marijuana he recently moderated in Washington.
Annette Kolodny, a pioneer of ecofeminism and a former academic at the University of British Columbia, has died at the age of 78.
The latest parent ensnared in the United States' college admissions scandal is a Chinese-born resident of Canada who paid a $400,000 bribe to get her son into U.C.L.A.
Traveling between Vancouver and Seattle? We found that the train beats flying on both time and money.

Around the Times

Wintering snow geese in California's Sacramento Valley.Aerial Archives/Alamy

It's not quite "Silent Spring," but there are 2.9 billion fewer birds flying around Canada and the United States than there were in 1970. Particularly worrying to scientists is that the decline has been steep among species like robins and sparrows, species that are traditionally abundant.
In the week that Canada reported its first case of severe illness linked to vaping, The Times asks if it's time to quit the practice.
Faulty software certainly played a key role in the Boeing 737 Max crashes that have kept the jets on the ground for months. But throwing unprepared pilots into their cockpits is also to blame.

A native of Windsor, Ontario, Ian Austen was educated in Toronto, lives in Ottawa and has reported about Canada for The New York Times for the past 16 years. Follow him on Twitter at @ianrausten.