Justin Trudeau...and why I am envious

Quite some years ago, when I was composing a book on eulogy writing, I included some excerpts from eulogies given for famous people. I chose fragments from eulogies for the likes of Princess Diana, Ghandi, Stanley Kubrick, the Queen Mother and Ronnie Barker. But perhaps my favourite inclusion was from the 2000 eulogy delivered by Justin Trudeau at the funeral of his father, Pierre Trudeau, Canada’s 15th Prime Minister.
I loved the words the (then) 28 year-old Justin spoke (you can find it in entirety on You Tube).
Here are the snippets that I quoted in my book:
 “......but more than anything, to me, he was dad.
And what a dad.  He loved us with the passion and the devotion that encompassed his life.  He taught us to believe in ourselves, to stand up for ourselves, to know ourselves and to accept responsibility for ourselves.
We knew we were the luckiest kids in the world. And we had done nothing to actually deserve it.
It was instead something that we would have to spend the rest of our lives to work very hard to live up to..............
(At the ending)......................But he won’t be coming back any more.  It’s all up to us, all of us, now,
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
He has kept his promises and earned his sleep.*
Je t’aime Papa.”
 
And now, Canada has this (slightly older now) young man as its Prime Minister.
I have to say that I, as an Australian, am exceedingly envious of the Canadians for their good fortune in having such a Prime Minister.
Justin’s father, Pierre, was Canada’s leader for 15 years and according to history, and the fact that he remained in the position for so long, the indications are that he was a fair and honest politician, with an emphasis on respect and tolerance towards everyone.
Now, I am not a Canadian. Nor have I ever even been to Canada, but the political climate there certainly seems a lot different from the mean, money grubbing attitude of our Australian politicians; the sucking dry of the vulnerable in our communities and the cruelty towards asylum seekers -  and the pandering to big business and bigger corporations alongside the neglect of climate change matters …I could go on….
So, I’ll watch the young Mr Trudeau and follow the progress of Canada and see if my jealousy is justified as I compare him and his parliament to what we have here.

Sorry to be all political…but it’s impossible to ignore the awfulness of Australian politics at the moment!
And, please take a look at Justin Trudeau’s tribute to his father (on YouTube) – and be impressed.


*adapted from the last verse of poem, ‘Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening’, by Robert Frost
 
The woods are lovely, dark and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.