Justin Trudeau chosen as national newsmaker of the year in reader poll

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This article was published 28/12/2015 (3647 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

OTTAWA — For Canadian politics, 2015 was the year of the underdog.

First, Rachel Notley and the NDP in Alberta upset a 44-year Progressive Conservative political dynasty in Alberta that still has some jaws on the ground in that province.

But it was Justin Trudeau’s ability to find the pot of gold at the end of the election rainbow in Ottawa that most Free Press readers found truly remarkable.

It was hands down the most popular choice for national newsmaker of the year in a reader poll. The other contenders, Notley’s win, the Truth and Reconciliation report, the Mike Duffy trial and the sputtering Canadian economy, barely got out of the starting gate.

“The narrative of Trudeau’s trajectory was surprising and dramatic as he took his Liberals from rump to ruling party,” summed up Paul Samyn, editor of the Winnipeg Free Press. “His campaign meant we had a real three-way race for power, and his victory lap attracted global attention in ways we haven’t seen for a Canadian prime minister. Regardless of how they may have voted, our readers have clearly noted the impact of this headline-maker.”

It’s not hard to see why — the son of a former prime minister, whose good looks and boyish charm have fascinated the world, rising to the occasion in an election few thought he had any chance of winning.

“It’s natural this would be a big story,” said Royce Koop, a politics professor at the University of Manitoba.

Trudeau’s win was surprising in almost every way. That he won at all was not predicted by many at the campaign’s outset, including most Liberals.

That he won a majority was almost inconceivable until the final days of the campaign.

Then there is how different Trudeau is to the man he pushed out of office. Prime minister Stephen Harper’s steely-eyed gaze and awkward nerdiness are on the opposite side of the personality spectrum to Trudeau’s “sunny ways” persona. Where Harper is somewhat shy by nature and prefers closed doors and one-on-one meetings, Trudeau is in his element in crowds and never met a photo op he didn’t want to take.

But the excitement that clearly surrounded Trudeau’s election is already coming up against the cold, hard realities of governing in a period of economic turmoil and fulfilling promises made that aren’t quite as easy to execute as they are to promote.

There have been a lot of positives: the overseas trips that resulted in international media fawning, the first meeting with premiers in six years and the accomplishments, such as getting to work on an inquiry into murdered and missing indigenous women in Canada.

But Koop said there are many reasons to be disappointed in how Trudeau has governed so far.

Trudeau and his finance minister, Bill Morneau, had to admit their numbers were off on their tax-cut package, and cutting the middle-income tax rate would not be offset by creating a new higher tax bracket.

Trudeau has acknowledged it may be impossible to keep the deficit below $10 billion as promised.

The pledge to bring 25,000 Syrian refugees into Canada was scaled back when the logistics of that promise proved to be too difficult.

The Liberals already raised the eyebrows of the ethics commissioner with a fundraiser that promised dinner with Morneau as a prize — a fundraiser the Liberals quickly had to cancel.

The fascination with the Trudeau family has been compared, somewhat accurately, to that shown to the Kennedys. The New York Post even dubbed Trudeau the “JFK Jr. of Canada.” Media, largely but not entirely outside of Canada, have been fascinated with his good looks, with an Australian television station labelling him as “super-hot.” New York magazine even published a cut-out set of Trudeau paper dolls, complete with an almost nude drawing of Canada’s 23rd prime minister with only a maple leaf leaving things to the imagination.

In the seven weeks since that big election win, Trudeau has been written about in the New York Times magazine and named by Vogue magazine as one of “10 unconventional alternatives to the sexiest man alive.” He and his wife, Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau (she added the hyphen and her husband’s last name to her own after the election in yet another image-consulted move), also posed for Vogue. The resulting photograph, an unusually romantic shot for a prime minister, was a hot topic on social media.

Perhaps the most remarkable thing about Trudeau so far is just how accessible he is.

It was no secret Harper had an often rocky relationship with the national media, and neither he nor his cabinet were poster children for openness.

Trudeau has been very open that he wants to do things differently and has thus far walked the walk of openness. He made public his mandate letters to his cabinet and ordered them to be available to the media. Public notices are issued for cabinet meetings, and while there was a minor battle of wills between the Parliamentary Press Gallery and the Prime Minister’s Office, it was only about where ministers were going to scrum after cabinet, not whether they would at all.

Trudeau has already been to the National Press Theatre three times in seven weeks. Harper was there seven times in 10 years.

The pendulum has swung so far in the other direction, John Ibbitson of the Globe and Mail last week joked the media were crying uncle.

In one single day before Christmas, Trudeau met with reporters on Parliament Hill following a meeting with indigenous leaders, held a town hall with Maclean’s magazine at the National Arts Centre and then did a roundtable with The Canadian Press in its bureau office.

Critics, such as interim Conservative Leader Rona Ambrose, say Trudeau is more about style than substance, and the photo ops and glad-handing are taking up too much time.

For the most part, the public image has held, and it’s mainly people who never supported him in the first place who are rolling their eyes at the seemingly endless public events and staged photo ops.

Trudeau said this week he sees such things as his Vogue appearance as a way to connect with people who are disconnected from political news, and staying connected with people is the way to stay grounded.

But Koop notes there will be a breaking point if the Liberals aren’t careful. “I think it will wear thin,” he said. “It is a nice thing for a politician to be visible, but after a while that’s not going to matter anymore.”

One of the biggest problems Trudeau now faces is a somewhat ironic one.

His yardstick during the election was a rather short one, with expectations of his performance extremely low thanks to relentless “Just not ready” attack ads from the Conservatives. But his approach and his promises have raised expectations of him through the roof.

“Next year, the end-of-the-year story could be quite different,” said Koop.

mia.rabson@freepress.mb.ca