He said it's "more objectionable still" to suggest that his father "would, like [Michael Ignatieff], deal in vacuous terms meant to appease emotions."

In the message, Apps argued that if Trudeau was alive today, he'd back Ignatieff's views over those of his eldest son, [Justin Trudeau], who has dismissed Quebec nationhood as "an old idea."

He was struck by "the shallowness" of Trudeau's arguments and by "how tenaciously he held onto them."