TORONTO

A tall, handsome young federal stud is speaking to the Canadian Club Tuesday.

You may know him. He’s from Quebec, has great hair, sparkly teeth and sweet dreams of being prime minister. His dad was also a parliamentary big shot.

A reputation for frolic, frivolity and fancy women has long followed him. He spends hard time in the gym, but is controversial and prone to gaffes.

No, not that dude. Not Justin “Little Potato” Trudeau. Our tall, handsome young prime minister is in New York, preening at the United Nations.

The Canadian Club speaker is Maxime “Mad Max” Bernier, tall, handsome young contender for the federal Conservative leadership. A boyish 53, Bernier runs marathons, while Trudeau, a childish 44, boxes.

(Editor’s note: Why would you swoon over a Tory leadership candidate, Strobel? You’re a libertarian.)

Exactement, boss! So is Bernier, or at least he’s the most libertarian politician in Canada who’s not actually in the Libertarian Party of Canada.

Libertarian, as in more personal freedoms and less government.

Bernier is so libertarian that he was endorsed last week by Marc Emery, the Prince of Pot. As regular readers know, we libertarians are keen on legalizing marijuana.

We have similar views on maple syrup. Those saps in Ottawa should keep their noses out of it.

Sure enough, two weeks ago, Bernier called on the feds to release Quebec’s maple syrup industry from production controls.

“Free the maple syrup,” his online campaign demands.

Free the Canadian traveller, too, he says, from the highest — by far — air fares in the world, caused by federal fees and lack of competition.

Free the mail, while we’re at it, by privatizing Canada Post.

“Freedom, personal responsibility, respect and fairness,” he says in his pitch on Facebook.

On his profile, he also marked Atlas Shrugged Day on Sept. 2, the key date in Ayn Rand’s libertarian masterpiece.

Said Bernier: “A lesson from this great novelist: The classical liberal tradition is what made us a free, peaceful and prosperous country.

“We should cherish it and proudly proclaim the moral high ground when defending this tradition against those who want to impose Big Government upon us.”

Classic liberal, I hasten to add, is the polar opposite of Trudeau Liberal.

Bernier’s political bent warms my libertarian cockles. Not so much for the effete elites of this country, or others who feel most entitled to their entitlements. They are among those who nicknamed him “Mad Max.”

Can Bernier win? The leadership race is so muddled that poll leaders are two guys not running — former MP Peter MacKay and TV star/investor Kevin O’Leary.

Of the rest, Bernier leads (at a measly 15% according to Ipsos/Global News) over fellow MPs Candice Bergen (10%, including fans of the old sitcom Murphy Brown), Tony Clement at 8%, Lisa Raitt at 7%, Michael Chong (5%), and Kellie Leitch and Erin O’Toole at 2% apiece.

Ottawa, with Bernier in charge, would be a lot more fun. He was the foreign affairs minister who mislaid NATO briefing papers at the home of Julie Couillard, a comely brunette and former paramour of a Hells Angels honcho.

Ms. Couillard’s book on the affair was not flattering to Mad Max, but in the 2015 election, he won nearly 60% of votes in the riding of Beauce, once held by his dad, Gilles.

The Canadian Club gig at the Royal York is entitled “An Ambitious Plan to Unleash Canada’s Productive Forces.”

“Unleash.” Now there’s a good libertarian word. Beats that silly “sunny ways” any day.

mstrobel@postmedia.com