Justin Trudeau went to Alberta Wednesday night with his Liberal leadership campaign.
It was a great success - 200 people in the room. For a liberal, 200 people in Calgary is equal to 2,000 in Westmount. There were the young and the old, and plenty from the cultural communities - a real party.
Second surprise. Trudeau made a shock statement! He came out against Pierre Trudeau's national energy policy. Nobody expected that.
It's the same policy that cost the Liberals so much politically in Alberta for past 40 years. They haven't elected a single MP there since.
For Albertans the policy amounted to taxing Alberta oil and running off to Ottawa with the money.
Justin Trudeau was categorical:
"I promise you that I will never use the wealth of the West to win votes in the East," he said. The crowd around him could not believe their ears. Their applause rained down on him.
The old man must have rolled over in his grave.
It was a shot too at NDP leader Thomas Mulcair, who blames Western oil for the inflated value of the Canadian dollar that is hurting Ontario and Quebec manufacturing exports.
Trudeau went on:
"It is wrong to use our natural resources to divide Canadians against each other," Trudeau said. "It was not the right way to govern Canada in the past. It's bad today, and it would be bad in the future. It is not the politics of division that will help build a stronger Canada. '
The third surprise of the evening, came in a television interview from Ottawa, where former Conservative Prime Minister Brian Mulroney almost openly endorsed Trudeau, describing him as "a handsome young man with talent." Mulroney said that Trudeau's 40 years are an asset. Understandably, Mulroney might say that. He was only 37 when he entered politics.
There is a difference. Despite his young age, Trudeau has been twice elected to parliament, whereas when Mulroney entered politics, he had never even been elected school commissioner.
Mulroney went on: "The people who trivialize his accomplishments and hold little hope for his political future should be very careful,"
adding Trudeau can provide a "big bang" when necessary.
Of course there was an arrow pointing at Stephen Harper in all this, but for some people in Quebec nice comments like that from Mulroney are pure gold.
The last surprise of the evening: New Brunswick Liberal MP Dominic LeBlanc is planning to publicly endorse Trudeau tonight at Dieppe, on the outskirts of Moncton.
Both MPs are childhood friends. Dominic's father, Romeo LeBlanc, was a minister in Pierre Trudeau's government.
Sometimes old friends really are the best, especially when you need them!
Rather than an adversary, Dominic LeBlanc will be his man in New Brunswick.
In baseball, four hits in a game is known as a perfect game at bat.
