Justin Trudeau: NDP Leader

How could Justin Trudeau join the NDP, and eventually lead the New Democratic Party instead of the Liberals, for the 2015 election? POD of 1990ish.
 
Do you want him to have a chance of winning? A lot of his appeal is based on name recognition, and his father Pierre Trudeau was a Liberal. Switching parties might be seen as bold enough to get the leadership of the NDP, if they were struggling, but since it would probably be seen as a power grab I dont think the electorate would take him seriously enough for him to win.
 
How could Justin Trudeau join the NDP, and eventually lead the New Democratic Party instead of the Liberals, for the 2015 election? POD of 1990ish.

That's just not possible. By the 1990s, his father was already a Liberal PM, and an internationally well-known PM at that. Of course Justin Trudeau is going to go in his father's footsteps, considering his father's achievements.
 
Justin is a lifelong ideological and partisan Liberal (a Party Man, unlike his dad) and nothing on record suggests he ever flirted with other parties. The NDP was widely seen as a dying joke in the '90s.
 
His father is more likely to be a Dipper. Have him rise to prominence as a New Democrat, perhaps even their first PM, and Justin'll probably follow his father's party affiliation.
 
Even with Pappa Trudeau at the helm, I can't see the NDP making massive gains (enough to get into power) without a much earlier PoD

Oh, quite. But Pierre's charismatic presence could raise the NDP to unheard of heights in terms of number of seats, etc. Possibly enough to force one of the other parties to enter into a coalition with him.

In such circumstances, Justin would grow up as an NDP'er, and if he followed in his famous father's footsteps, he MIGHT be able to be PM at some point, and CERTAINLY might be able to be NDP leader.

We all remember Tommy Douglas, even though he was never PM. Trudeau might have a similar fame.
 
Without the media buildup in English Canada, Trudeau wouldn't have that presence. Even Newman has said so. They're not gonna build up the NDP, given how they shared their Grit friends' attitude towards Dippers. I doubt he'd be any more successful than Cliche if he had beat Kierans.
 
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