It has been a long time since we've had one - a true leader, that steps up and through a combination of passion, personality, knowledge and vision... draws us along and creates something new. Someone whom, when they speak... the world listens.
We had someone like that once. I was only vaguely aware of him when I was younger, and seeing as how I grew up in the West with parents who were Western Canadians... there wasn't a whole lot of love for him in our household. But one phrase my mom used has stuck with me ever since I was 5 years old: "I don't like him at all - but you can't help but respect him".
Now, as someone who is seriously considering politics in the latter stages of my life, this man is someone whom I aspire to be. Not because of his policies or beliefs, necessarily (some of them are 100% contrary to mine), but because of the statement above. He swept the world along, he was a name and a face recognized worldwide, he did not bow down to pressure - and he left a legacy. Without him, homosexuality may still be a criminal offence in Canada, we might not be bilingual, multiculturalism may be taboo, the federal energy program might not exist... the examples go on.
To reiterate - I don't actually agree with a lot of what he did (though hindsight's always 20/20). However, in the end what I most respect about him (and the key element that all of our current leaders lack, from municipal to federal) is this:
He told you what he was going to do - and then he did it.
Follow through.
"Just watch me."
~Pierre Elliott Trudeau (1919-2000)
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