Liberals draft Trudeau

ik - Ahhh, the good old days...

To lead youth task force. Renewal project seen by some as Justin's entry into politics

JULIET O'NEILL, CanWest News Service
Published: Friday, April 07, 2006

The Liberals have persuaded Justin Trudeau, son of the late prime minister, to lead a task force designed to help the party renew itself, CanWest News Service has learned.

Trudeau, 34, is to head a "youth task force" as part of a renewal project examining how the party can rebuild itself after its recent election defeat.

Although his role would be far from seeking office, it is seen by some as his entry onto the political stage that his father, Pierre Elliott Trudeau, dominated a generation earlier.

The senior Trudeau was prime minister for all but nine months between 1968 and 1984, and Tom Axworthy served as his top aide for several years. Axworthy, now a Queen's University professor, has been assigned by the Liberals to come up with a blueprint for party renewal.

He and three co-chairpersons are organizing an array of task forces to address 30 issues, from ethics and religion in politics to environment, immigration and foreign policy. The youth task force is among issues under the theme of "a just society," a Trudeau phrase that inspired a generation of Liberals.

Among the themes the youth task force is to address are why young people are not civically engaged, whether Canada needs a youth service corps and whether youth gangs should be a special priority in anti-crime policies.

Justin Trudeau, eldest of the former prime minister's three sons, has been shy about partisan politics but an activist on youth and environmental issues.

He is chairperson of Katimavik, a youth volunteer service his father's friend Jacques Hebert founded in 1977. Through Katimavik, thousands of young people have learned Canada's official languages,working on environmental and community projects.

Katimavik is so much in demand that thousands of young people apply for the 1,200 annual positions.

Trudeau has worked as its chairperson for the past four years, saying he has a sense of responsibility to contribute to the world. He is working toward a master's degree in environmental geography at McGill University.

Trudeau was recently quoted in the National Post during a Katimavik promotional visit in Toronto, saying he is very much keeping an arm's length from the Liberal leadership race. But he did not think the Liberal election defeat was necessarily bad, "if now is the time that people are going to start really looking at some youth issues and environmental issues."

Axworthy would neither confirm nor deny that Trudeau has been recruited, saying he does not want to pre-empt an announcement by the Liberal Party of the people who will head 20 to 30 task forces. Trudeau was not available for comment.

© The Gazette (Montreal) 2006