The Road Not Taken

Stephen Harper is obsessed with the name Trudeau. When he arrived in Edmonton, a university drop out, he admired Pierre Elliott Trudeau. By the time he graduated from the University of Calgary, his hero had become his bogeyman. Now he is faced with Trudeau le fils and, Michael Harris writes, he has come to a fork in the road. He must decide how to deal with his obsession.

Given his nature, he will probably rev up the Harper Hate Machine:

Harper’s hatred might be so blinding that he will opt to go to war with the son of the guy with the rose in his lapel. He has gathered his Praetorian Guard of dirty tricks around him, he has gorged on corporate contributions, so it’s obviously on his mind.

If he goes that route, you can bet the farm that the Harper-hate machine will be coming after Trudeau like fire ants at a picnic. They will do it on every front — from sex, love and rock-n-roll, to mad notions of Stephen Harper’s vast experience and rock-solid judgement.

But, given his history -- and the fact that, so far, the machine has not been able to sabotage Justin -- the man who twice prorogued parliament to avoid his own self induced demise, may choose another route:

But there is another possibility. With all the signs of trouble in the Tory jungle — from Jim Flaherty’s obstreperous outbursts, Michael Chong’s rational reforms, and a general sense in the back bench that it’s no fun being a eunuch — Harper could run before he gets run over.

And, as was the case in Frost's poem, the road he chooses not to take will make all the difference.

The Anti-Trudeau

Stephen Harper despised Pierre Trudeau. He was nine years old when Trudeau became prime minister, and twenty-five when Trudeau retired. Watching Harper pontificate and react, one gets the impression that Mr. Trudeau was the bogeyman who haunted Stephen Harper's childhood nightmares. Indeed, it's not too much of a stretch to believe that -- somewhere in the prime minister's office -- there is a portrait of Trudeau which Harper uses as a dart board.

Nowhere is Harper's disgust for Trudeau more apparent, Lawrence Martin writes, than in the right wing nationalism Stephen Harper trumpets:

Patriotism pivots on pride in a resurrected military and morality-based missions. Pride in country is now linked to our refurbished armed forces and what Harper sees as moral crusades. National security, law and order, tighter immigration standards and bumper-sticker sports populism are among the features of a new right-wing nationalism. It is an accelerating trend and many Canadians worry that Harper, the anti-Trudeau, is taking it too far.

Martin then goes on to enumerate the various manifestations of Harper's right wing mania: message control, anti-democratic instincts, anti- labour policies, and anti intellectualism. But most disturbing of all is the Harperite cult of the leader. Recently released e-mails illustrate how the government has sought to define itself as the product of one man's vision. And, for five years, we have seen the flip side of that equation -- smearing the leader's opponents, whether they be Stephane Dion, Micheal Ignatieff or, more recently, NDP environment critic Megan Leslie, who the Harperites accused of treachery.

Pierre Trudeau had his faults. But he understood the horrendous consequences that accompanied the right wing nationalism espoused by leaders like Maurice Duplessis and Adolph Hitler. His opposition to that ideology was based on the results of its application in the 20th century.

Unfortunately, all of that history is lost on Stephen Harper. And he appears quite willing to repeat it.