Justin Trudeau stepped out of his famous father's shadow Tuesday, launching his bid to lead the federal Liberals with a warning that the once-mighty party must look to the future, not its glorious past.

Still, he ruled out the one thing widely thought to be the only salvation for the party: a merger or co-operation pact with the ascendant NDP.

The eldest son of former prime minister Pierre Trudeau warned Liberals there'll be no easy fix or shortcuts on the road to electoral rehabilitation, that even his celebrity, telegenic face and iconic surname won't be enough to revive the fortunes of a party reduced to rubble in the 2011 election.

"I said to Liberals after the last election that we need to get past this idea that a simple leadership change could fix our problems," he told hundreds of pumped, sweaty supporters crammed into a small hall at a community centre in his Papineau riding.

"I believe that still. My candidacy may shine a few extra lights upon us. It may put some people in the bleachers. But what we have to do with this opportunity is up to us — all of us.

"And when Canadians tune in, we need to prove to them that we Liberals have learned from the past, yes, but that we are 100 per cent focused on the future."

The launch was partly a testament to Justin Trudeau's star power. The community hall was filled to its 500-seat capacity and an overflow crowd jammed the hallway. A number of former MPs — Don Boudria, Navdeep Bains, Pablo Rodriguez, Eleni Bakopanos — and at least one current MP — Massimo Pacetti — were among the adoring throng.

Although the faces of some of his father's former cabinet ministers — Marc Lalonde, Andre Ouellet, Lucie Pepin — also dotted the audience, Trudeau made only one passing reference to his father during his 30-minute speech. Indeed, he took pains to stress that his leadership campaign will be "about the future, not the past."

He credited middle-class Canadians with some of the achievements Liberals typically claim as their own, including his father's signature accomplishment: patriation of the Constitution with a Charter of Rights.

The Liberal party, he said, "was the platform for (Canadians') aspirations, not the source of their aspirations." And it's only by reconnecting with those average folk that the party will regain the trust of Canadians, he maintained.

A screen behind the podium displayed a simple campaign logo that featured Trudeau's first name much more prominently than the lineage for which he became famous.

Trudeau said he wants to reconnect the Liberal party with the ordinary people who gave it life. And he singled out restoring the economic health of the Canadian middle class as a principal goal.

"A thriving middle class provides realistic hope and a ladder of opportunity for the less fortunate — a robust market for our businesses, and a sense of common interest for all," he said.

But as the middle class in China, India, South Korea and Brazil enjoys increasing prosperity, Canadians are experiencing the opposite, he continued — stalled income levels, escalating costs and ballooning personal debt.

In championing the middle class, Trudeau positioned the Liberals in their traditional role as the pragmatic party of the middle, between the more dogmatic, polarizing Conservatives on the right and the NDP on the left.

"What's the response from the NDP? To sow regional resentment and blame the successful. The Conservative answer? Privilege one sector over others and promise that wealth will trickle down, eventually," he said.

"Both are tidy ideological answers to complex and difficult questions. The only thing they have in common is that they are both, equally, wrong."

In a brief encounter with reporters after his speech, Trudeau ruled out any kind of formal co-operation or merger with the NDP, although he's sent mixed signals on the subject in the past.

"Listen, I'm running to be leader of the Liberal Party of Canada ... because I believe in an option that is not polarized around the edges, that is not bound to an ideology but is looking for the best possible way to serve Canadians," he said.

"Will the Liberal party in the future work with all parties when it finds agreement? Absolutely. Is there going to be formal co-operations? No."

The contest doesn't officially begin until Nov. 14 and culminates on April 14

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