Say Cheesie

Prince Charming is on the move. A young man of royal lineage whose casual demeanor and friendly overtures to anyone who enthuses about meeting him, he is glad-handing all over the country, making friends and future voting blocs as he impresses all and sundry. But most particularly does he impress the youth of the land. He's cool, exciting to be with, a man aspiring to become the next Prime Minister of Canada.

Nathan Rochford/The Canadian Press

At the Liberal Party of Canada convention in PEI, the Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau has revealed that he is not yet prepared to reveal his party's new election platform. The election will not be held until 2015, he contends, so what's the hurry? He has no intention whatever of spilling any beans, explicating program or platform, because it's early days, after all.

So he will continue to lay his cute little mines here and there in casual speeches and interviews revealing -- well, himself. He may represent Canada's version of inherited political entitlement, he may be young and photogenic and capable of captivating the interest of the electorate, but he won't yet burden himself with the inevitable blow-back by critics and opposition parties by revealing a half-baked economic vision for Canada's future.

In the meantime, there are those coy little tidbits that he exudes to affirm and reaffirm that he's just like anyone else in the great Canadian public. A guy with a mortgage, a family, working hard not just to support his family but with an eye to the public weal; ambitious to become the ultimate public servant. He's affable and he connects with the middle class, though he's anything but; he does feel their pain.

And just like any other fella, he's one of the gang. Someone passing around a reefer might feel put down if a friend passes on it, so friendship being more sacred than observance of social proprieties, the awkward legalities of Canadian law, and the really annoying fact that an elected Member of Parliament at the very least should be expected to be circumspect, he's all for surprises and genuinely amiable collegiality.

And then there's the pay-off, an ever-growing component of Canadians surveyed are prepared to vote Liberal "If an election were held today"; roughly ten percent more than would vote for the Conservatives. A random selection of Canadians polled by Forum Research resulted in the findings that even back in July the Liberals took 35% of public popularity, the Conservatives 31%, and the gap is growing.

And where, in the last several elections that brought the Conservatives to minority then majority government, fund-raising by the Conservatives far outranked what the Liberals were able to raise, that looks about to change. The Montreal scion of the Seagram liquor empire has pledged his intention to lead the Liberal Party of Canada's fundraising efforts.

As a long-time friend of Justin Trudeau's, Stephen Bronfman had been instrumental in the Liberal leadership campaign, raising over $2-million at that time.

The middle-aged of Canada who are mid-income will flock to the political candidate who keeps repeating a mantra evincing concern for the well-being of the Canadian middle class. Canada's youth, thrilled at the prospect of being able to vote for someone 'just like them' who doesn't hesitate to admit smoking up on occasion, will do for Trudeau what that demographic did for Barack Obama.

Even while a new study by researchers from Universite de Montreal and New York's Icahn School of Medicine have reached a study conclusion that "the nature of the teenage brain makes users of cannabis among this population particularly at risk of developing addictive behaviours and suffering other long-term ngative effects."

Hell, if it didn't hurt Trudeau who was addicted to public speaking and charging hefty gratuities even to charities whose work he spoke fondly of supporting while taking their money instead of funding them, it shouldn't hurt those who are lining up behind him now.