Now that Justin Trudeau is Canada’s prime minister, it might be worth revisiting his previous Charter-based critique of Stephen Harper. The op-ed below appeared in the National Post on April 17, 2012; it  is based on a more extended piece — Charter Hyperbole: the New Politics of Heresy — in the c2c Journal.

In 1982, Pierre Trudeau realized his dream of a constitutionally entrenched Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Thirty years later, Trudeau’s son Justin, Liberal MP for Papineau, excoriated Stephen Harper for turning his back on major policies wrought by Charter politics. If Harper had his way, Justin suggested, Canada would be “going against” abortion and same-sex marriage. Fortunately, the real Canada, the Canada defined in part by these policies, had thus far resisted Harper’s reactionary plans. “If I believed that Canada was really the Canada of Stephen Harper,” Justin declared, “I would think of wanting to make Quebec a country.” Continue reading →