rfmcdonald | [LINK] "Justin Trudeau wins Liberal leadership" (Reply)

Canadian political journalist Susan Delacourt's Toronto Star article about the election of Justin Trudeau to the leadership of the Liberal Party makes the point that much is expected of Pierre Elliott Trudeau's son, and much is expected of him. The question is whether or not he'll fulfill this promise. The future of the Liberal Party lies on the person of Justin Trudeau, of whether or not he'll succeed in recapturing the left-wing portion of the electorate from the NDP. Given the Liberal Party's weakness in Québec, I have my doubts.

The results of the week’s voting weren’t even close. Under the Liberals’ new system, each riding in Canada was worth 100 points, allocated according to the percentage of support each candidate received. The winner needed 15,401 out of 30,800 points, and Trudeau won 24,000.

His closest rival, Vancouver MP Joyce Murray, won 3,130. Former MP Martha Hall Findlay won 1,760, former cabinet minister Martin Cauchon earned 810, and candidates Deborah Coyne and Karen McCrimmon won only a little more than 200 each.

Trudeau will be in the Commons on Monday to take up his role as leader and to face reporters’ questions in the foyer afterward. His campaign advisers said he intends to spend the next few weeks putting a transition plan in place, though he will also visit Labrador, where hopes are also running high for Liberals to take away a seat from the Conservatives in the May 13 byelection.

Trudeau conducted a leadership campaign that attracted nearly viral levels of public attention and crowds of adoring fans: 10,000 volunteers alone and thousands of new party supporters signed up in the past six months.

Many of those volunteers were in the crowd Sunday night, wearing “Justin” scarves, tears streaming down their faces, as the result was announced.

As well, repeated polls in recent days and weeks have shown that a Trudeau-led Liberal party could sweep over its rivals, even the Conservative party.