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2. Boxing tournaments

In hindsight, it was a good idea for Mr. Trudeau to sign up for an event in which he repeatedly punched Tory senator Patrick Brazeau in the face. A few Twitter rampages and a sex assault charge later, the opponent Mr. Trudeau defeated in a 2012 charity bout is now one of the least liked men in Ottawa. Nevertheless, boxing takes time (Mr. Brazeau lost after training for five whole months), potentially robbing the new Liberal leader of valuable study hours in the parliamentary library.

3. Cussing

In late 2011, it was a question on climate change policy that caused Mr. Trudeau to leap to his feet and call Environment Minister Peter Kent “a piece of s—.” Canadian parliamentarians are known to occasionally let loose with a PG-friendly putdown like “sleazebag,” but everybody knows that s-words and f-words should remain the exclusive domain of Manitoba New Democrat Pat Martin.

4. Moustaches

Every November, politicians get a free pass to wear all manner of ridiculous facial hair, provided they do it under the guise of fundraising for prostate cancer research. In 2011, however, Mr. Trudeau kept his sinister-looking D’Artagnan moustache (complete with goatee) well into the next year. Robert Borden, the last man to successfully sneak a moustache into the Prime Minister’s office, died in 1937.

5. Playing hooky

To date, Mr. Trudeau’s one, solitary, piece of private member’s business was a swiftly defeated motion calling for a “National Policy on Youth Volunteer Service.” And, between the 2011 election and last February, he had the fourth worst attendance record in the House of Common; missing 221 of 616 votes. Running a campaign is hard work, but the last Liberal leader to abrogate parliamentary duty for stump speeches and Chamber of Commerce luncheons was a little-known academic by the name of Michael Ignatieff.