Before any legend has a chance to spread, let the record show that the events of Wednesday evening in Papineau riding were nothing like what happened at the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day parade in Montreal 40 years ago.
This was not Pierre Trudeau refusing to take cover from projectiles hurled by indépendantiste rioters.
Justin Trudeau was not even seen by the Jeunes Patriotes du Québec who held a "demonstration" at his official campaign launch; he entered his storefront committee room from a rear office where he had spent the day, spoke from the back of the room and was screened from view through the front window by his listeners.

And there was no violence on Wednesday evening - though that might have been due as much to chance as to yet another tardy intervention by the Montreal police.
Still, in standing up to intimidation, as his father had done during that earlier election campaign, Trudeau and his supporters scored another victory for democracy.
The Jeunes Patriotes describe themselves as "street sovereignists." What they are is a goon squad, known to try to intimidate federalists and disrupt their meetings.
They are an offshoot of the Mouvement de libération nationale du Québec, whose leader, former terrorist Raymond Villeneuve, joined their demonstration in Papineau.
They often wear shirts or carry flags displaying a marching, rifle-toting rebel of 1837 that decorated the communiqués of the terrorist Front de libération du Québec, in whose name Villeneuve committed a murder in the 1960s.
This hasn't stopped such mainstream organizations as the Parti Québécois and the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal from promoting the Jeune Patriotes' more orderly activities. In fact, the latter's current spokesman, François Gendron, is also chairman of the SSJB-M's youth council, as was his predecessor, with an office at the organization's Sherbrooke St. headquarters.
News reports have described their action in Papineau as a "demonstration." Their aim, however, was not to exercise their freedom of expression and peaceful assembly but rather to prevent others from exercising theirs, by drowning them out with a "tintamarre," or noisemaking.
Their intention was announced and reported in the media well in advance. And the last time they held a "tintamarre" at a federalist event, in March, some of them tried to force their way into the meeting and scuffled with English-rights supporters.
Yet, in spite of all this, there was no visible police presence as the Jeunes Patriotes began to gather, increased in number to about 60 and gradually spread out and advanced on the committee room, exchanging taunts with Liberals standing outside.
The Jeunes Patriotes were chanting (example: "Trudeau, you bastard, the people will have your hide.") and beating a drum and on pots and pans, trying to drown out the speakers inside as they came face-to-face with the Liberals outside.
Tension was high, and a shove could have easily started a brawl. Some of the Jeunes Patriotes were carrying placards and flagsticks, and one was wearing a Quebec flag as a bandana concealing his face below the eyes. There were children on both sides.
It went on like this for nearly half an hour before a dozen police officers finally showed up to defend the freedom to hold a peaceful political meeting. They separated the Jeunes Patriotes and the Liberals and created a no-man's land between them with police tape on either side of the public sidewalk, along which they formed a line.
Inside the committee room, Trudeau concluded his speech, and Liberals began to emerge, some carrying cardboard plates bearing pieces of a large rectangular cake decorated to look like a Trudeau campaign sign.
Having failed to prevent the meeting from taking place, the Jeunes Patriotes began to disperse. (One of their final, short-lived attempts at a chant exhibited a wry sense of humour: "We want cake.")

Their spokesman, Gendron, used a bullhorn to invite them to withdraw to a bar a few blocks away. And so the adversaries of democracy marched off down the street in defeat, their yelling gradually fading in the night.
dmacpher@thegazette.canwest.com