It wasn’t the pirouette behind the Queen. It wasn’t the “Just watch me,” or the repatriation of the constitution. It wasn’t even the creation of official multiculturalism. The thing that got me about Pierre Trudeau was his eyes. That look when he was in the thick of it, surrounded by reporters, that look of complete mastery — the sharp, probing, dismissive, playful, joyous look when he was discussing a subject that he was truly moved by, something that he was passionate about. That’s what made being prime minister look like a hell of a lot of fun. And in the heady, early days of the ’70s, while America was saddled with “Tricky” Dick Nixon, we had the hippest, coolest leader on the planet. We really did. And we knew it too. And as I grew older and watched and listened, he made me fall in love with politics. Watching Trudeau was like watching a master, an artist, a force of nature, a genius.

A few days ago, I sat in front of the television, much like you did, and watched America swear in its 44th president. I sat next to my wife, held my daughters in my arms and, like you, I was moved, but I also felt... well, sad. No, sad isn’t the right word. I felt like I was watching America swearing in a modern-day Trudeau, while I’m sitting here in Canada with a modern-day Nixon. I’m not trying to infer that our Prime Minister was involved in some nefarious taped surveillance scheme in the last election. (He may have been, but that’s not my point.) As Canadians, we’re not used to Americans being cooler than us. We’re just not. As a matter of fact, the Bush White House allowed us to feel downright smug. Gleefully smug. Gloriously smug. But those days are over. Done. Gone. Once Barack Hussein Obama was made the President of the United States of America, we suddenly found ourselves collectively on a pretty high horse from which we must now climb down. And when we do, the question will be there, waiting for us, just at the periphery of our vision: “Hmmm, I wonder if we will ever have a black prime minister?”


I’ve already heard the question ruminating in my consciousness. And I respond to it quickly and emphatically, just like this: “First off, there are many cultures in this country, and a prime minister from any of them would be welcome as long as they’re the right person for the job. We don’t suddenly need a black prime minister because they have a black president. We just need a really good prime minister, and if they’re black or South Asian or First Nations or Chinese, all the better, but they have to be good.”

OK, so once you have that qualifier out of the way, what are the real, honest to goodness chances of a person of colour becoming prime minister in my lifetime?

First off, I have to say that I know for a fact, in my heart, in my heart of hearts, that white Canadians would have no problem with a person of colour as their prime minister. If the timing is just right, and their party isn’t involved in a major scandal, then skin colour would be a non-issue. I would go so far as to say your average Calgarian would welcome any shade of PM as long as they weren’t from Quebec. So what are some of the obstacles facing a person of colour looking to become Prime Minister?

Let’s take a look at the first problem. I did an unofficial Google survey of the three political parties, looking for their diverse members of Parliament. It’s not scientific, I basically went to the websites of the three parties and opened a tab for every person of colour I could find. And I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the Conservative Party. I clicked on a few links and I discovered Leona Aglukkaq, Alice Wong, Nina Grewal, Tim Uppal, and Deepak Obhrai. Way more than I expected. Interesting.

On the Liberal Party site, I found Navdeep Bains, Gurbax Singh Malhi, Yasmin Ratansi, Sukh Dhaliwal, Marlene Jennings and, of course, Ujjal Dosanjh. Dosanjh has the largest profile out of all of them. He was the first person of colour to become premier of a province. And, out of all of them, he also has the most baggage, due to his savage defeat as leader of BC’s scandal-laden NDP government.

And then we have the NDP. And what shocked me was that of the three parties, they have the least diversity in parliament. One would think the NDP would be all over the diversity issue. Jack, I love ya, I voted for ya, but come on! Olivia Chow is your only person of colour in Ottawa? Really? Wow. Really? OK. Whatever man.

Now I know this was all unscientific, but let’s take a look at the list of people above. We’ll start with the NDP. For Olivia Chow to make a run for leader of the party, she’d have to stab her own husband in the back. Hmmm. Not gonna happen.

Unfortunately Dosanjh suffers from the same affliction as Bob Rae: he’s the NDP premier who went down in flames. I have a tonne of respect for Rae, and for Dosanjh, but that’s not an easy road to 24 Sussex Drive.

And let’s say that Marlene Jennings, the first black person elected in Quebec to the House of Commons, let’s say that she decides tomorrow that she wants to make a run for leader of the Liberal party. First off, she’s going to have to get the power brokers of the party to get on board. She’s going to have to reach out to the “grassroots.” She’s going to have to prove that she has the fortitude, the moxie, the charisma, and the money to win and become prime minister. And she’s going to have to do all of that while waiting for Michael Ignatieff to become prime minister, then serve as prime minister, then step down or get defeated in an election.

If I were a person of colour in politics, I would want to be in the Conservative party right about now. After Stephen Harper is defeated or steps down, there will be a serious power vacuum. If one were very clever, one could use that power vacuum to their advantage. But you would also have to figure out how to use the small number of former Progressive Conservatives to support you against the former Reform Party members who are going to be against you. And do all that without fostering a greater rift in the party that already exists.

And here we are at the core of the problem. Leadership candidates are chosen, meticulously chosen, by factions within a party. Each of the three parties has to increase the number of people of colour in their party so that, eventually, one of these factions can chose a candidate from Canada’s diverse cultural mosaic who is right for the job. Stop looking through the yearbooks of Upper Canada College and start looking at the charismatic people of colour in your party, and in the multicultural community when you are considering leadership candidates. Obama did not seek out a run for the presidency, the party came to him.


The biggest obstacle to a person of colour becoming prime minister in this country is this: who really wants the job, anyway? How many people, of any colour, could you honestly say are qualified, and willing and actively seeking to become prime minister of Canada? My guess is about seven, maybe 10. And I’m being generous.

Who can blame anyone for not wanting the job? All of the scandals and cynicism have tarnished the image that holding a public office once held. And even without the scandals, being PM is brutal. Yes, if you get the gig you are the ruler of a G7 nation, but you are also constantly under attack, from within and without your party. Your sense of self and values are constantly being challenged. You experience incredible highs and soul-crushing lows. If you’re PM, it’s your whole life, it is your family’s whole life, 24/7/365. Add to that the challenge of trying to break through racial barriers within a political party, and it would make sense that most people of colour would say, “Why the hell would I put myself through all of that crap. I don’t want the hassle.”

And yet, in my humble opinion, running for the office of prime minister is one of the most noble things a human being can do. At least that’s how Trudeau made me feel. He, much like Obama, makes serving as the leader of a nation a true calling. And much like Trudeau, he makes it look so easy, and so much damn fun.

Now, of course, President Obama is a once-in-a-lifetime kind of leader. And not everyone can be a Kennedy or Churchill or Trudeau. However, we still need more people of colour who actively want to serve in public life. We need more people of colour, more women, more homosexuals, more disabled people to go to their party of choice and demand to be seen as a candidate. We need you to hone your political muscles and work that charisma and do that research and challenge yourself and challenge all of us. And we need the three political parties to not only open their doors to more participation from minorities of all kinds, but to actively seek them out. To encourage them to participate in public life. Will a person of colour lead this nation in my lifetime? Only if we collectively get off of our high horse and realize that there are real barriers that prohibit people of colour from participating fully in public life. Once we demolish those barriers and allow for diversity in the highest halls of power, then finally we, the citizens of this magnificent country, can truly call this a Just Society.

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