Pop singer Justin Bieber is escorted out of the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center in Miami, Fla., Jan. 23, 2014.Javier Galeano/Reuters
Premier Mum has some homespun wisdom to share with Justin Bieber: Get some support and "stay on track."
As prominent names from popular music weighed in on Mr. Bieber's impaired-driving arrest in Miami on Thursday, even Kathleen Wynne – the Premier of Mr. Bieber's home province of Ontario – had something to say.
The Liberal Leader, who has three children of her own, said she sees the young pop star from a parental perspective.
"It's hard for me to think of him other than as a mum: He's a 19-year-old boy -- young adult -- who's really been on such a fast track since he was 14 years old," she said Friday. "I really hope there are people around him who are going to be able to circle around him with the love he deserves and needs, and help support him so that he can get on track and stay on track."
Calling Mr. Bieber, a native of Stratford, Ont., "a talented young Canadian kid," Ms. Wynne said the singer "has got the potential of a hugely successful career ahead of him. …
"I hope that the whirlwind that he lives in doesn't prevent him from being healthy," she said.
Ms. Wynne made her comments, appropriately enough, during an announcement of a new government plan to help children stay healthy at a Toronto community centre.
"We're talking about healthy kids; I know [Mr. Bieber] is 19… but you know, I see him as a very young adult who still needs some support from the people who love him, and I really hope he gets that," she said.
Mr. Bieber was arrested early Thursday on suspicion of drag racing a Lamborghini in Miami Beach. He faces charges of driving under the influence, resisting arrest and driving with an expired licence.
The year began in dramatic fashion for Mr. Bieber: Detectives searched his California home looking for surveillance footage that might serve as evidence that the singer was involved in egg-tossing vandalism that caused thousands of dollars in damage to a neighbour's home. The investigation garnered more attention than his album release, which happened just days earlier.
Journals was released in December and has had some success, but far from the chart-topping performance he enjoyed when he made his debut as a cherub-faced, soft-voiced teenager in 2009. His second 3-D film, Justin Bieber's Believe, flopped when it was released in December.
In an interview with The Associated Press last month, Usher, Mr. Bieber's mentor, said his troubles are part of his maturation.
"The beautiful part about it is that those that are invested in a long-term story you understand that there are peaks and valleys in every person's life some," the R&B star said. "Unfortunately the reality is he has to live with a camera in front of him, but what he chooses to do on or off camera is analyzed or scrutinized in some off way."
Plenty of music stars have been entwined in far more serious legal trouble or scandal, and have rebounded thanks to the power of a hit single and/or an image makeover. And Mr. Bieber still has support in the music industry,
"I don't know Justin and I don't know what he's involved in. All I know is if drugs are involved, and I hope they are not, they're lethal," music mogul Clive Davis said in an interview Thursday after the singer's arrest. "He's a young man with strong talent that has really found an audience, so I'm sure we wish him well."
With a report from Associated Press.
Adrian Morrow