Justin Trudeau Walks Away From Mike Duffy Question

In Edmonton finds admirers and challengers

Irum Khan

Edmonton: Justin Trudeau was in Edmonton’s Radisson Hotel yesterday attending Liberal Party’s election rally. Maintaining his electric form in the crowd and obliging for selfies, he left no opportunity to take on his opponents.

He attacked NDP’s Tom Mulcair pointing that the latter’s focus was too much on politics and less on people. He expressed scepticism on NDP’s $15 federal minimum wage promise. Targeting Tories, he criticized Stephen Harper for not believing in a better Canada. He stood by his promise of imposing tax on the wealthy one per cent Canadians. On the housing sector, Justin reiterated the announcement made in Ontario early this morning — the plan to earmark $125 million per year in tax incentives for developers and landlords. This would go into building and renovating rental units. Trudeau also promised prioritizing affordable housing and residences for seniors and making historic investments in public transits.

For immigrants, present in larger number for the rally, Trudeau declared that Canada would open up for them. However, the star prime ministerial candidate refused to answer whether he would pursue Mike Duffy’s alleged misspending case. Only a few weeks earlier, Justin had written to Harper urging him to fire staffers who were aware about Mike Duffy’s payment. Today he gave the question a deliberate miss.

For the crowd, filled with Liberal cheerleaders, Trudeau was a rockstar. Gerdy Aarts from Netherlands believed that Trudeau was the answer to issues the immigrant community was currently facing. She said, “We believe Justin would work bottom up and focus on the middle class. I am also hopeful that he would address the grievances of the immigrants. My friend with two degrees has suffered for the last four years. Hope Trudeau changes the game.”

For Lavallee Gerald, a supporter of the Liberal Party for the last 40 years, it was Pierrie Trudeau’s statesmanship and intelligence that still keeps him hooked to the party. He said, “The Liberals talk about reducing the gap between the rich and the poor and forming a just society. “

However, among Trudeau’s cheerleaders there were a few complainants too. One Selladurai Premakumaran has still not forgiven the then Liberal party prime minister who misled him into coming to Canada in 1998. Yesterday, he had with him, a letter for Trudeau sharing the inconvenience he faced in finding suitable jobs for himself and his wife despite being overly qualified. He alleged that the Liberal Party government owed him an explanation for misleading them about a good life in Canada. He hoped Trudeau conceded the mental and financial agony his family had to undergo. When asked whether he saw Trudeau as the next PM, he answered, “I doubt.”

Trudeau who was solidly surrounded by comrades, busy signing autographs, taking selfies and a noisy loudspeaker playing in the backdrop, the chances of Premakumaran’s letter reaching him seemed slim.

Connect with Irum Khan on Twitter @irumkhan