Polls show that Justin Trudeau, the 40-year-old second term Papineau MP and son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau (whose 1969 Omnibus bill permitted widespread abortion in Canada), would instantly make the currently third-place Liberals serious contenders to win the 2015 election. Pro-life leaders think that development would be a disaster for Canada.

Justin Trudeau’s rise has been a lifetime in the making including media plaudits for speeches he made while in his 20s and 30s including his eulogy of his father in 2000 and a speech questioning Catholic church leadership during the lead-up to the 2002 World Youth Day in Toronto. Jim Hughes, national president of Campaign Life Coalition said that while his candidacy is based more on star appeal than substance, the younger Trudeau’s words have demonstrated that he would build on the radical social agenda of his famous father.

Hughes said more than a decade ago a Quebec bishop warned CLC to keep their eye on Trudeau who was being groomed for leadership long before he formally entered politics. Hughes told The Interim “a lot of Canadians will get on his bandwagon because of his name, cult of personality, and favourable media coverage.” He urged people to take a close look at what Trudeau stands for.

Gwen Landolt, national vice president of REAL Women Canada, said Trudeau is mostly an empty slate for people because of his lack of concrete policy positions, but noted that on moral issues, he has been clear. “All we know is that he’s sort of a knee-jerk left-wing liberal on same-sex ‘marriage,’ abortion-on-demand, but he doesn’t seem to have any in-depth analysis on any issue,” Landolt is quoted saying by LifeSiteNews.com.

Justin Trudeau, who is running for leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, has pro-life leaders worried he will bring back Trudeaumania.

In February, Trudeau told the French-language Radio Canada that he would support Quebec separating from the rest of Canada if Harper rescinded same-sex “marriage” or restricted abortion. Trudeau said: “I always say, if at a certain point, I believe that Canada was really the Canada of Stephen Harper – that we were going against abortion, and we were going against gay marriage, and we were going backwards in 10,000 different ways – maybe I would think about wanting to make Quebec a country.” He later insisted he loved Canada but did not climb down from his position in favour of breaking up the country to protest pro-life legislation being passed.

Trudeau regularly attends gay pride events and has spoken out against critics of gay-straight alliances.

Hughes warned that the Trudeau team “can whip up a lot of enthusiasm among the young,” noting that he’s been speaking at Canadian schools, including Catholic schools where he questions Catholic moral teaching, for more than a decade, and has spoken at Me to We events organized by pro-abortion youth-engagement activist Craig Keilbburger.

Despite his radicalism and flirting with Quebec separatism, a Forum Research poll released in September shows that Trudeau’s Liberals would win a federal election with 39 per cent compared to Stephen Harper’s Conservatives which would garner 32 per cent and Thomas Mulcair’s NDP which could only attract 20 per cent  support.