It is sometimes difficult to be current when writing a weekly column.
A lot can happen between the writing of a column and its appearance in print.
As an example, by the time this column is in readers’ hands, we could be into a federal election. I hope so.
Those in the know are betting that, following a good news economic statement next week, the prime minister will pull the plug and the election will be on.
I still find it difficult to believe that we would go into a federal election so soon after the two major byelections in which Joe Clark and Stockwell Day were elected to Parliament. We could have saved a lot of money by skipping those byelections and going straight to the real thing.
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There has been a lot of speculation since the death of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau that Jean ChrŽtien would campaign on the Trudeau legacy and ride his coattails into a large majority government.
The Trudeau son, Justin, said in his eulogy that his father came back for Charlottetown, came back for Meech, but he won’t be coming back again.
I think he will, this one last time, in spirit if not in fact. His legacy, however, may not turn out to be the blessing ChrŽtien and his supporters had hoped for.
Crass as campaigning on the legacy of Trudeau may have been, it could have worked – if only ChrŽtien hadn’t made his precipitous decision to rename Mount Logan after the former prime minister.
I believe the decision was made in the right spirit. Trudeau is rightfully mourned, and he was a hero to ChrŽtien.
The trouble is, the decision was made too quickly and without a lot of thought.
It’s a good example of why I was once told it’s a bad idea to make major life decisions immediately following the death of a loved one.
It brings to mind ChrŽtien’s decision during the last federal campaign in 1997, during the Red River Flood, to heave a sandbag. It was an idea that needed more thought about the motives behind it and the fact that many said the election should have been postponed in the face of the natural disaster.
Certainly something should be named for Trudeau, but Mount Logan obviously isn’t it.
The Mount Logan controversy is growing so large and so acrimonious that it could well have an adverse effect on the government in the polls.
Better for ChrŽtien to backtrack now and admit his mistake than to stubbornly hold on.
A better opportunity to immortalize Trudeau will surely present itself.
