Mr. Trudeau thanked Stephen Harper for his his years of service to the country, as is expected from the new Prime Minister, thanking and recognizing the old PM.
He also went one step further and talked about how he and Mr. Harper had had 'a few words' about family life in politics, painting the picture of a friendly banter between the two. I think Mr. Trudeau was being extremely generous. It's well known that Harper loathes Trudeau.
In our lunch with Justin, he recounted how Mr. Harper ignored him for weeks after he won the leadership of the Liberal party. Custom has it that other party leaders congratulate, or at least acknowledge, these events, and welcome the new party leader to the fray. Not so with Mr. Harper.
According to Justin, it wasn't until a few weeks later that Mr. Harper, as an aside as walking by, acknowledged Mr. Trudeau as the new leader of the Liberals. As my sister-in-law said at our lunch table: 'That's just rude'.
That's the memory that came back as I watched Trudeau being gracious, probably portraying the contact he and Stephen Harper had in a better light than it actually had been, all to send Mr. Harper off nicely.
Maybe there are now new standards of decent behavior and a return to graciousness? We'll see.
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