I'd rather have Justin Trudeau stoned than Stephen Harper sober

Justin Trudeau's admission that he had smoked the occasional joint had the Conservatives at their huffing and puffing best this week. His "actions speak for themselves" offered the Prime Minister while Justice Minister Peter MacKay accused Mr. Trudeau of setting "a poor example for all Canadians, particularly young ones" and went on to declare that "Justin Trudeau is simply not the kind of leader our country needs."

That last comment of Mr. MacKay's particularly caught my eye. I couldn't help thinking of Canada's greatest conservative of all, sometimes referred to as the father of our country—John A. Macdonald. Canada's first prime minister did not, to my knowledge, smoke marijuana but he was a serious boozer. While true that smoking pot is illegal (although trivially so) and drinking wasn't, Trudeau's occasional joint hardly compares to Macdonald's binge drinking.

But old John A might be excused—he had his personal problems and, in any case, he did his country great service. As to his drinking, he famously said, "The people would rather have John A. drunk than Brown sober," referring to his Liberal rival George Brown. I'm sure Mr. MacKay would never suggest that he was simply not the kind of leader our country needed. Or would he?