Canada turns to reality show to pick a PM

· Four former leaders to grill contestants in TV special
· Winner to walk away with Ł22,500 in prize money
By Dan Glaister
The Guardian
Dec. 02, 2006

Some countries have elections. Some countries have sectarian violence. Others have civil war. But in Canada, they do things differently.

Next March four former Canadian prime ministers will take part in a reality TV show titled The Next Great Prime Minister. The four will grill contestants on their leadership qualities before picking a winner in the one-hour TV special.

While other former leaders will be strutting the world stage - Jimmy Carter worrying about democracy, Bill Clinton about poverty - former Canadian prime ministers Brian Mulroney, John Turner, Joe Clark and Kim Campbell will be donning their best clothes to question five contestants about the qualities needed to lead the nation.

But just what are those qualities? Are they looking for the staid approach of the incumbent, Stephen Harper, the stolid young conservative who put an end to 12 years of liberal rule this year? Or do Canadians hark back to racier times, to the days of Pierre Trudeau, the sandal-wearing liberal who danced behind the Queen's back?

Then there is Mr Mulroney, the straight-talking Reagan-hugging conservative who ruled Canada from 1984-1993. Or perhaps they prefer the role model offered by Ms Campbell, Mr Mulroney's successor, whom he described as a "very vain person".

For her model of a great Canadian prime minister, Ms Campbell chooses Lester Bowles Pearson, who led the country for five years in the mid-1960s. "His bow tie, smile and slight lisp formed Canada's face to the world," she writes in an essay for the show. "Pearson's colleagues often regarded him as a weak and vacillating leader. It was said that he told people what they wanted to hear, and held the views of the last person who spoke to him. His governments were scandal-ridden."

Mr Clark turns to the "passionate, difficult, courageous, western populist" John Diefenbaker, who ruled from 1957-63. Diefenbaker, lauded as a uniter, was none the less "suspicious and distrustful", writes Mr Clark. "His interest in the economy was casual."

Contestants on the show, to be made by the national broadcaster, the CBC, are asked to submit a speech saying what they would do if they were prime minister.

The qualities the judges are looking for are clear: the bow-tie wearing, weak, vacillating contestant with the suspicious air should walk away with the Ł22,500 prize money.