The incumbent Prime Minister Stepher Harper was given a stunning blow when Canada voted its first new leader in 10 years, as a general election handed Justin Trudeau’s Liberal party an absolute majority..!!
The victory denied a fourth term to Harper and his Conservative Party. Because Canada does not have term limits, Harper has held the position since 2006.
He conceded defeat but said he’ll remain in Parliament as a lawmaker.
Justin Trudeau was four months old that day, the first born of a dashing prime minister who drew comparisons to John F. Kennedy after rising to power in 1968 on a wave of support dubbed “Trudeaumania.”
The architect of Canada’s version of the Bill of Rights, Pierre Trudeau remains to this day one of the few Canadian politicians widely known to Americans.
Despite his grandiose beginnings, Justin Trudeau projects a more casual persona than his glamorous father, who dated movie stars such as Barbra Streisand, married, had children and divorced while serving as prime minister between 1968 and 1984, with a brief interruption.
A 43-year-old former high school teacher who until recently sported long hair, Trudeau first captured national attention in 2000 with a moving eulogy at his father’s state funeral. He challenged the country to cement Pierre Trudeau’s vision of a united and multicultural Canada, moving many people to tears.
Harper’s Conservatives pilloried Trudeau during the campaign as inexperienced. But Trudeau tapped into an appetite for change and worked his boyish image to project an approachability that belied his privileged background.
