CITY: Council decides to leave its number at eight A3 Friday, January 25, 2013 Prince George Cougars announce they have a new head coach B1
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Liberal hopes?
DELYNDA PILON
newsroom@pgfreepress.com
A crowd of about 100 people, mainly students but some middle-aged residents and at least one couple with a baby in tow, filled a room at the student centre at the University of Northern British Columbia for a chance to hear Liberal leader hopeful Justin Trudeau talk about revitalizing the party. The crowd was attentive as Trudeau, young and personable with a face that resembles those reflected back in many of the dorm room mirrors at the university, spoke, greeting him with respect bordering on reverence. But Trudeau did not come to the forum to postulate, rock-starish, thanks in part to his famous heritage and inherent charisma, but to deliver a serious message as an experienced MP from Papineau vying as the front-runner against nine other candidates for the party’s leadership. Trudeau said one of the singular components of the Liberal party is it is neither left nor right – and not even middle-of-the-road. Rather it is a party based on values, and it needs the aid of diverse Canadian voices and ideas to rebuild. Trudeau delivered his message while drawing a picture of young people typical to today’s society, including those who came to the university to attend the event, discussing the immediacy of information. “Knowledge is power, we were always told,” he said, adding that perhaps now, though, things have come full circle and people feel overwhelmed. There is a feeling you cannot change the world while, simultaneously, he said, young people have an awareness that what they say and does matters. Yet, he pointed out, they pay little attention to politics. He said he sees this as a condemnation of the way politics is done and pointed to leaders creating division, strategic targeting and a focus on wedge issues, taking Bill PHILLIPS/ Fre e Pre s s
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Federal Liberal party leadership hopeful Justin Trudeau campaigns in Prince George on Wednesday.
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