What does it mean to be a Liberal?
As a recovering Tory and new Liberal I haven’t really found an answer to this question, at least one that fits in to 21st century Canada. I think answering this might be important to justify my relatively new membership in the Liberal party after a couple years wandering the political wilderness following Peter MacKay’s ascension to PC party leadership. I have to admit joining the Liberal party was a decision of last resort; I didn’t fit in anywhere else. I also respect the history of the Liberal party, but I'm not so sure what the party is in the present.
Yes, in my darker days I was a supporter of the Progressive Conservative party, provincial and federal. Mike Harris, a time in my life I somewhat regret. Brian Mulroney, Jean Charest, Joe Clark, a time I don’t regret so much. To my credit I have not spent one second supporting the Reform-Conservative Party. I suppose in some sense I’m still a red tory, though I haven’t ever nailed down exactly what that means.
So here I ask what it means to be a capital-L Liberal in this country. I suspect such soul searching would also be good for the party too as it doesn’t seem anyone up there in the upper echelons of the party really knows what Liberal means either. If they do, they’re doing a lousy job at articulating it.
Looking at the Liberal party page there's a little bit more there than usual that starts to answer this question:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.liberal.ca/en/newsroom/media-releases/16887_conservatives-show-indifference-to-human-rights-abuses-against-canadians-abroad
http://www.liberal.ca/en/newsroom/blog/16851_rodriguez-pitches-a-society-that-values-creativity
It's a start.
Ever seen Iggy's speech about Isaiah Berlin? He may not define what the capital-L Liberal plan is, but he lays out a very nice vision of what a liberal in general is.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.liberal.ca/en/michael-ignatieff/speeches/16008_isaiah-berlin-lecture-liberal-values-in-tough-times
But this is a question that been on the minds of everyone, which is important; after so long in government, and a loss of what our direction was because of petty internal bickering, we've finally come about saying that we need to define ourselves. Its a mass movement and the more ideas we get, the better chance we have of blasting this party back off into power for the *right reasons*, instead of the wrong ones.
That's a good speech and outlines some good stuff. So what does that look like today? We have health care and a charter, what next? I see an educational component in that speech, preparing people for the challenges of a changing economy, good idea. What exactly does that look like at the federal level? What else?
ReplyDeleteBeing a Liberal means that on any given issue on any given day you find out which way the wind is blowing and take that position.
ReplyDeleteOh, yeah and Harper doesn't like Canada too.
David
Volkov
ReplyDelete13 years no legacy, MI makes a large number of speeches.
Liberals believed in Big Government and Ottawa controlling and keeping the provinces on a short leash.
People are not turing to Ottawa but are looking at their Premier and Mayor for most issues.
The Federal Government has its responsibility/role and should not repeat the mistakes from the Liberals and rekindle the "separtists" movement again.
Canadian Sense,
ReplyDeleteYou mistake what a liberal is with the distorted version that American media peddles.