Liberals Get a Tongue-Lashing!

Big news today about Robert Fowler's remarks to the Liberals at their policy conference. Fowler is a former diplomat and Al Qaeda hostage (four months in Africa in 2008-2009). He said that the Liberal party had "lost its soul." He said that they don't appear to really stand for anything anymore. They're so obsessed with regaining power that they'll say anything they think that the public wants to hear.

I think he's right.

And honestly, it makes me sad. I've always considered myself a Liberal. I'm about as far from a Conservative as you can get on 90% of issues. I suppose to a certain extent I swing more NDP, but a) I'm not big on unions; and b) I can't see them ever taking power in this country, and I'm not interested in attaching myself to a cement block if I'm drowning.

I've considered actually joining the Liberal Party many times. I'd like to have some say in the future of the party. Ideally I'd like them to recognize my brilliance and personal charisma and elect me leader so that I can be the first elected female Prime Minister. Is that too much to ask? Oh...

But anyway, in the past few years I have grown more and more disillusioned with the Grits (where on EARTH did that nickname come from, anyway?) I was disappointed in my country for getting rid of Paul Martin after such a short tenure, when he, according to the Gomery Report, apparently had nothing to do with the sponsorship scandal which brought the Liberals out of power for the first time in 13 years. I honestly believe it had little to do with the actual "scandal" of the sponsorships, as it did with the very Canadian idea that after a while in power the majority Party always gets "too big for its britches". The fact that "the Right" finally united, when the Canadian Alliance (AKA The Reform Party) joined forces with the Progressive Conservative Party to form the Conservative Party of Canada (note that "Progressive" had to go) didn't help.

Since Martin's minority government was defeated four years ago, there has been a bitter struggle for power between the two major parties. The Liberals threaten to bring down the Conservative government, Harper prorogues Parliament to stall them, and by the time they go back somehow the CPC has managed to appease the Liberals enough to stay in power for a few more months before they start the dance all over again. The Liberals are desperate to regain power, the CPC is desperate not to lose it. That's the main focus of the Canadian government right now, and it's sickening.

Michael Ignatieff seems like an intelligent man. I just don't understand the rush for his coronation. Desperation to make people forget about Stéphane Dion? I like Justin Trudeau well enough, but I think that people expecting his father will be sorely disappointed, and sadly I think he'll be eaten up by the hordes expecting the Second Coming.

Robert Fowler is right: the Liberals need someone who has the guts to make a statement and stick with it. They need to come up with a comprehensive, understandable platform and make sure that every voter in the country can at least name the main points. They need to stand up for something, instead of sitting back and hoping that the Conservatives will trip and fall over their own feet. That could very well happen (and I can't say I won't be grinning like the Cheshire Cat if it does) but it's not a very proactive approach.

I hate seeing what the CPC is doing to this country, and I really hope that the Liberals take Fowler's comments seriously. When they're ready for me to take over, they can let me know!