Justin Trudeau vs. The inauthentic

The Liberal leadership frontrunner explains his approach to politics.

And Trudeau acknowledges he has made mistakes, but he says that’s the price of being unscripted and genuine — or, in other words, being the breed of politician he believes Canadians are hungry for. “I’ll always choose to be that rather than to be inauthentic … and hyper-controlled and totally scripted the way other people are,” he says. “That’s not me. And I don’t think that’s what Canadians want either."

Authenticity is a troublesome idea. But the talking point may be the illness that is choking the life out of our democracy. So what if Mr. Trudeau is somewhat right? What if there is a great yearning for free-speaking politicians? What if part of the blame for the decline in voting rests with the increasingly scripted nature of political discourse? Could a politician succeed while being less disciplined? How would that work exactly?