By Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday April 16, 2013
Justin’s first day as Liberal leader in the House of Commons
Day one for new Liberal Leader Justin Trudeau featured three questions to the Prime Minister, two controversial, Conservative attack videos and a 25-minute encounter with a huge swarm of Parliament Hill reporters.
The buzz created by Trudeau’s candidacy for Liberal leader over the past six months, much of it occurring outside the Ottawa bubble, made its way into the corridors of Parliament Hill on his first day after winning the job on Sunday.
Though Prime Minister Stephen Harper and many of his cabinet ministers extended congratulations to the new Liberal leader, the Conservative party welcomed him with two mocking attacks on YouTube, accompanied by an anti-Trudeau website and a Facebook page as well.
Trudeau shrugged off the attacks as predictable, but the Canadian Liver Foundation issued a condemnation, since the Conservatives used footage from a Trudeau appearance at one of the charity’s events in 2011.
In that ad aired Monday morning, the Conservatives took aim at Trudeau’s experience, suggesting the 41-year-old was in “over his head.” Against a background of carnival-like music, Trudeau is depicted removing his shirt at the “What a Girl Wants” fundraiser in 2011, where he raised nearly $2,000 for the foundation.
Another video talks up Harper’s economic record while poking fun at Trudeau’s past jobs as a camp counsellor, rafting instructor and drama teacher, adding, “and now he thinks he can run Canada’s economy.” (Source: Toronto Star) http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2013/04/15/conservatives_unleash_attack_ads_as_justin_trudeau_set_to_debut_as_liberal_leader.html