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Jean Chrétien can still choke out an opponent, figuratively speaking. In a newspaper article Saturday and again Sunday at a Hamilton rally with Justin Trudeau, the former prime minister pilloried Stephen Harper for besmirching Canada’s standing in the world and for bungling the Syrian refugee crisis. Chretien’s speech, though rambling and apparently delivered off the cuff, was passionate and peppered with jokes and digs. By the end he had the partisan crowd eating out of his hand. It was vintage Chretien.

If only so much of what he said wasn’t ginned-up malarkey. But that, too, is Chrétien.

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Liberals have for years bemoaned The Little Guy’s absence from the stage. They will have reason to feel encouraged by his return, at a practical level. If nothing else, since Paul Martin has also appeared at Trudeau’s side, it puts a final stake through the desiccated heart of the ancient Chrétien-Martin war. Though the two former prime ministers haven’t appeared together — it would be surprising if they did — their making common cause stands to bolster Trudeau’s ground game, particularly in Ontario, the Liberals’ former stronghold in the 1990s.