Winning Back the Hearts and Minds

Here are the results of the last several federal elections (click on the images for better resolution) across the Canadian electorate from two different lenses (wouldn't it be nice if polls always told us how many respondents actually planned to vote):




I'm hopeful that with Peter Donolo, one of the architects of the last Liberal revival, now put in charge of Michael Ignatieff's office, that a cold hard examination will take place of why the party has lost support over the years, where it went, and just how it can be earned it back, region by region, group by group.

I know that we can't over glamourize the "golden years", but Liberals would be foolish not to take lessons from just how under Jean Chretien they went from even trailing the NDP in the polls at one point to winning a landslide victory. With a focused, disciplined communication strategy based both on the failings of the government and their own concrete plans for the future (and yes a Thinkers Conference in Quebec) Liberals overcame the negative press and slowly built back up their support. By the time the election came Canadians knew what Liberals stood for and Liberals had a clear narrative for the campaign that appealed to a wide section of voters. They started out the campaign behind the governing party, but trounced everyone in the end.

That said, Liberals should recognize that the political climate differs in many fundamental ways now than then. There was no divided right, the PM will be in his 4th campaign vs. Ignatieff's 1st, the global economic crisis has led some voters cut the government slack over the deficit, the unprecedented government self-promotion ad buy, Chretien had 3 years to plan while Ignatieff may only have 5 more months, amongst other factors. Even so, the basic communications strategy from then can be applied to now to reverse the trends in the Liberals' favour.

But the message is just one part of the puzzle, who it is primarily directed to is another. Liberals would be wise to make a concerted effort to rebuild the winning voting coalition of 1993 (with some additions and subtractions here and there).

Many pundits have talked about the need for Liberals to win back women, minorities, and so called "mainstream Canadians" who have drifted off to other parties. This is definitely true, but I do hope it's not lost that it hasn't just been voters leaving to other parties that has cost Liberals support, but also the fact that many of the old supporters have stayed home in droves. A 12% drop in voter turnout since 1993 is nothing to scoff at - there were actually fewer total # of votes cast in 2008 than in 1993 despite the Canadian population growing by over 5.5 million since then. This represents a huge swath of voters that should not be given up on.

The Liberals' 1993 win was not only the best popular vote score the Liberals have received since 1980, but also the last time the winning party in a Canadian election received a larger share of the vote than there were non-voters. Stephen Harper wants to depress voter turnout further. He wants to turn off as many people as possible with relentless negatively and attempts to portray himself as being no different than were the Liberals. If he wins an election with only 20% of registered voters, that's fine by him.

But if Canadians who didn't vote in the last election think the Liberals are not all that different from the government then they'll be staying home again. They need to be convinced their vote would actually make a difference and that Liberals would truly represent their ideals. They need to hear concrete ideas on how the culture in Ottawa that Conservatives poisoned will be really changed for the good.

If Liberals can present themselves as a party unafraid of bold leadership on the issues of the day, and that will provide good honest government, this will provide an excellent contrast with Harper's way of governing.

It's clear that work has already begun to rebuild the winning coalition, but there is much more to do. Many Liberals have put forward ideas/advice in the past (including myself), some of which has already begun to be implemented, and some more practical than others, but no one should be under no illusions just how much work needs to be done both within the party and to broaden its appeal with the general public.

There are many months now to lay the groundwork for a narrative both about the party and for the next election and there will be an excellent chance to showcase the Liberal message and ideas at the Thinker's Conference in Montreal in March. It's going to take some major heavy lifting from the highest to the lowest levels of the party, but Liberals been in worse straights before and came out the other side victorious. I know they can do it again.

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Standing Out from the Crowd

The Conservatives' politicization of the distribution of infrastructure funds and government websites is a story that is hitting them hard on one of their biggest weaknesses. But it is not yet a story that is highlighting why the public should trust Liberals to be better. While Canadians across the board will cringe at images like these, many will unfortunately think "a pox on all their houses, I can't trust any of them." Liberals need to reach these people and convince them that they are the only party that will truly put a stop to the nonsense in Ottawa and restore faith in government again. And in fact the Liberals have put the ideas out there to do just that.

Liberals proposed expanding the Gas Tax Transfer program to distribute infrastructure funds. This would have allowed the stimulus funds to be distributed faster and under an already established system of audit, administration and evaluation. Instead, the infrastructure program was completely politicized and the money is distributed with virtually no oversight by comparison.

Conservatives have spent tens of millions on partisan government advertising, while the Liberals have proposed to end the practice by having an independent advisory committee vet all ads.

Conservatives want to spend money recklessly with no one to watch over them, while the Liberals would strengthen the Parliamentary Budget Office's watchdog ability by making it independent.

But the media stories about the Conservative cheque fiasco don't mention any of the Liberal proposals. In fact some lazy reporting has claimed Liberals did the exact same thing (not true) or haven't proposed how they'd do different (also not true). That needs to be changed.

Every time Liberals are hammering the Conservatives for inaction, mismanagement or excessive partisanship they need to also get the message out of what they'd do different.

When they are talking Conservative stonewalling investigations and appalling secrecy, they can highlight the pledge to improve access to information laws.

When they are talking about Conservatives abandoning Canadians abroad they can mention how Liberals have promised to pass legislation ensuring that what happened to Suaad Mohamud would never happen to another Canadian and that, unlike the Conservatives, Liberals don't support having a Canadian child solider in Guantanamo Bay.

When Liberals are criticizing the Conservatives on the environment they should point to the party's plans on clean energy and a cap and trade system with hard caps. How real leadership would benefit Canadians economically and Conservative inaction costs us.

You get the point. But it would great to see in the future any article talking about the latest Conservative scandal having at least a couple lines saying "The Liberals have said if they are elected to government they would....". The Liberals put the ideas out there in many cases, but the bulkk of the media aren't biting. That isn't necessarily the Liberals' fault, but they need to do what they can to address this perhaps by talking up their own proposals more forcefully in press conferences, speeches, or press releases, alongside the sharp critiques of the Conservatives.

Now there are many parts of the next platform that the party doesn't want to reveal before a campaign and that's perfectly understandable (and I agree with that), but in those cases where Liberals slam Conservatives for something and want their counter-proposal(s) kept under wraps, even just a quick sound bite from Michael Ignatieff saying something along the lines of "rest assured, this would never be allowed to happen under our watch!" is worth a lot and would find its way into the media coverage.

When Liberals are just critical it might help to shake votes loose from the Conservatives, but not necessarily driving them back to the Liberals. Pure negativity also risks feeding the narratives spread about the Liberals being a party that opposes, but that has no ideas or identity of its own to distinguish itself from the government.

I know it's tough to get the media and public to pay attention to your ideas when you are in opposition, but Liberals succeeded with this before in the early 90s and I know the party can again.

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Facts to Brighten Your Day and the Road Ahead

So it seems that with the election speculation out of the way, many in the media have moved on to the next favourite past time which is obsessing about the latest polls. Since these stories are already getting a bit repetitive, here are some facts it would be nice to see some reporters bear in mind that might just add a little more context to those Liberal "doom and gloom" /"Harper can't be stopped" themes that are being peddled:

1) Liberals fall 2009 meet Conservatives circa fall 2005: The Conservatives started the 2005/06 election campaign farther behind the Liberals in the polls than the Liberals are behind the Conservatives now. NANOS/SES had them down by 15 points (41%-26%) 11 days into the campaign and the Conservatives were still down 10 points even 25 days into the campaign. Remember Harper and Co. did force a Christmas election "no one wanted". Well we know how that campaign turned out and NANOS was by far the most accurate in predicting the final result.

2) Voters are up for grabs right up till E-day: In the last election campaign the Liberals bounced between 21% support to 31% support and Conservatives bounced between 31% to 42%. The Conservatives even led 40% to 21% at one point, only to have the gap narrow to 34%-31% within just one week of E-day (only to see the Conservative lead widen after that infamous CTV interview). So it's safe to say what happens in a campaign influences public support a lot more than anything in between.

3) Massive leads have collapsed in past campaigns: Just ask Paul Martin or David Peterson (who didn't even come away with his own seat in the 1990 Ontario election that was supposed to give him another majority). Even Kim Campbell's PCs started out the 1993 campaign slightly in front of the Liberals (ending with 14% and 2 seats) and John Turner's Liberals led Mulroney's Tories when the 1984 campaign began (and the PCs ended up with 50% of the national vote). Which is why I don't put much value in non-writ polls (or ones any more than a couple weeks before E-day) to begin with.

4) Polling trends still have Liberals gaining seats and everyone else losing them: If you must listen to current polls, then even as the media tell us the Liberals are in deep trouble (and admittedly the Liberals have had a rough couple weeks) if you look at seat projection sites (that don't just rely on one poll), the trend still indicates that the Liberals are likely to win around 100 seats. Every other party is on pace to lose seats.

5) Ontario traditionally doesn't look too fondly upon a party that's dead in Quebec: That isn't registering now, but if E-day is nearing and the Conservatives are looking to lose all (or almost all) their Quebec seats, we will very likely see a shift away from them in Ontario.

6) Stephen Harper's career is still on pace to end with the next campaign: Harper's career depends on winning a majority in the next election and not a single poll since January has shown the Conservatives with the numbers that would actually translate into one (again see 308's projections). Remember Harper has to make up for the collapse of the NDP vote (which always helped the Cons more than anyone) and his horrible numbers in Quebec. If Stephen Harper thought he could win a majority, he'd have forced an election by now. He hasn't and it looks like he won't be. As the media talk about how "Conservative fortunes are on the rise" the Cons are still overall on pace to lose seats. Then we'll see who has the "leadership woes".

7) The NDP are down in the dumps and are truly horrified of facing the voters: As their finances, support levels, and party morale keep sinking, their leader has to explain to his supporters why he has "formed a coalition with Stephen Harper" and given Harper a "de facto majority" (Jack's words, not mine), while endorsing him as our representative at the most important climate change conference ever in Copenhagen in December. Increased NDP support in elections has helped elect a fair number of Conservative MPs as they came up the middle. As the NDP are down to their lowest support levels in many years, it seems we won’t have to worry as much about that next time.

8) Harper can't run from his record forever: Stephen Harper promised us no recession and no deficit and we have had the worst of both. He'll have to finally explain himself about that and so much more come campaign time. I'll give him full credit for his Beatles performance, but that will be ancient history once the writ drops and we will be back to the real issues he'll have to answer for. He won't have a piano to save him at the debates.

9) The Liberals will be looking more and more like an alternative government: Now that we no longer vote with the government, we can oppose their policies in House while simultaneously proposing alternatives or even formal amendments to confidence measures. The NDP would have to oppose popular Liberal alternative proposals and have to explain themselves later. The extremely lazy and false argument that "there's no meaningful differences between Liberals and Conservatives" will fade away with each passing example.

10) Liberals remain in excellent organizational shape for the campaign: The Liberals will go into the next campaign with considerably more money in the bank than last time (to spend $24 million instead of approx. $14.5 million), three times as many members (and likely more), more centralized/streamlined organization, better on the ground operation, excellent voter tracker software we never had before, many new star candidates, and as a party more united (right across the country despite some reporters' spin) than we have been in recent memory.

So some can keep up with their doom and gloom all they want, but it doesn't change these facts that leave Liberals with lots of reasons to hold our heads high. If Stephen Harper wants to believe the Liberals are finished like some (though far from all, to be fair) reporters are spinning, let him, Steve will be in for a surprise when the campaign gets underway.

So where does this leave us?
Are the Liberals experiencing a bit of a downturn lately? Do they still have some problems to deal with? Yes and yes. But as I've said before EVERYTHING must be kept in perspective.

Doesn't mean we should completely ignore the media, put our heads in the sand, and pretend that getting back into power will be easy or that the government will simply defeat itself. But stories and polls like those of the past week can be a blessing in that it reminds us that we must always have our A-game on and that we must act as if we are behind and needing to play catch up (even if we get ahead). We must always have in mind how we are best suited to win the next campaign and keep our eyes focused on gaining back supporters from the Conservatives..

We can't afford to let lazy spin win. We need to do a better job of conveying the strength of our party and our ideas and how we would govern much differently than Stephen Harper. We need to do a better job of reaching out to those middle of the road Canadians who have lost faith in our federal politicians and who opt to stay home at election time. We need to make sure all our messages resonate well outside the Ottawa beltway. We need to do a better job of winning over Western and rural Canadians who abandoned our party long ago.

That work is now well under way and I know it will continue in the months ahead, but it can't for a second be let up.

We now have lots of time it would seem to organize for the next campaign and promote our ideas, party and leader. And when the campaign comes, Michael Ignatieff and the Liberal team will present a strong positive vision for Canada that will put Stephen Harper's pettiness and lack of vision and ideas to shame.

It will be the campaign who will decide who wins.

We may start out from behind but I know we have what it takes to win the hearts and minds of Canadians and give them the government and leadership they deserve.

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A Study in Contrasts

Liberals: Positive hopeful ads portraying a vision for Canada's future
Vs.
Conservatives: Negative deceptive ads ranting about a coalition that has been ruled out (as they ally with those same parties themselves) and accusations of Liberals wanting to raise taxes as they raise them themselves.
NDP: Prefers to keep the later in government in return for what their own supporters and MPs call "paltry" and "crumbs". They certainly have a lot of explaining to do.

UPDATE: Speaking of ads and contrasts, Steve calls attention to another:

The Conservative government is spending more than five times as many taxpayer dollars on promoting its economic plan as it is on raising public awareness about the flu pandemic.

The TV spots are just the latest $4-million salvo in a $34-million media blitz trumpeting the Conservative's recession-fighting budget.

Meanwhile, with public health officials fretting over an onrushing fall flu season, the spread of the H1N1 virus and widespread public apathy about the need for vaccination, no television ads are in the works to combat swine flu.

Health Canada's home web page, however, does include a prominent link to the Conservative economic action plan website (www.actionplan.gc.ca).

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The Case for Change

As Parliament returned today, so does this blog. And as the Harper government returned to Question Period for another round of evasive non-answers, ask yourself do we really need more of this? What does Stephen Harper have to show for his almost four years in office? Deficits, Debt, Division, Deception and Disarray.

Stephen Harper was so obsessed with banishing "surprise Liberal surpluses" and yet now he wants us to cut him slack for ever rising surprise new Conservative deficits.

Stephen Harper boasted about how much debt he was going to pay down, only to pile up more than had been paid in the last decade.

Stephen Harper said when he was first elected that his he would "govern for all Canadians" only to be the worst wedge politician Canada's ever seen as he writes off 60% of the population completely.

Stephen Harper said he would bring open, honest and accountable government, only to give us the opposite.
He promised us no recession and no deficit and we got the worst of both.
He tried to take credit for the lowest unemployment rate in 33 years, only to blame everyone else but him when he faces the highest.
He railed against Liberal patronage and cronyism and felt compelled to top it.
He promised sincere cooperation on EI this past summer and turned the whole thing into a charade.
He accused the opposition of wanting to raise payroll taxes on EI (which we were told would be a "job killer"), only to do so himself.
That kind of deception is tough to top.

And he's left our country in complete disarray with no vision or long-term domestic or foreign policy goals. Can someone point to anything Stephen Harper has planned for even next year? As every other major industrialized country makes targeted investments and restructures to compete in the global economy, Stephen Harper just puts his head in the sand. Does anyone still listen to Canada with Stephen Harper in power? When Stephen Harper says Canada is "back" under his leadership he must mean back of the pack.

It's really quite the legacy to leave behind and that's just the short list!
Well we needn't let him add to it any longer.

Canadians deserve better.

We face the toughest times in a generation with a Parliament Stephen Harper refuses to make work (Overdue EI Reforms still don't make the grade).

If you give Stephen Harper your hand, rest assured he will do everything he can to tie it behind your back (Jack Layton take note...).

Every day more Harper is in office our potential as a country is further squandered as he obsesses over crushing his opponents instead of governing the nation.

There is little positive to be gained by keeping this government in office any longer. We can do better.

We need a government willing to actually govern and make Parliament work rather than one focused entirely on electioneering and trying to come up with the best "plausible" lies about their opposition.

We need a government willing to lead on the world stage, rather than one that's happy to be a bit player.

We need a government with a team of strong capable ministers, rather than a one-man show who forces the rest into hiding.

We need a government that listens to research and science instead of one driven only be ideology.

We need a government willing to stand up for women's and minority rights and the disabled, instead of one that sees them as "left-wing fringe groups".

We need a government that protects Canadians abroad instead of abandons them.

We need a government that believes in our institutions, from public broadcasting, to the courts, to Elections Canada, rather than a government trying to tear them down.

We need a government that knows we must invest more in post-secondary education, instead of one who mocks those with a university education.

We need a government willing to show real environmental leadership at the largest ever Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen this December, instead of one that would go with the goal of being the biggest holdout.

We need a government that knows that good child care policy is good economic policy, instead of one that is seemingly proud not to have created a single child care space.

We need a government willing to level with Canadians and give straight answers instead of one that stonewalls and deceives at every turn.

We need a government that's fiscally responsible and has a social conscience to replace one that's neither.

We need a government that's focused on building the Canada of the future to take over from one that can't see beyond the next election.

We need a Prime Minister that unites Canadians rather than divides them.

Only Michael Ignatieff and the Liberal Party can provide this kind of government to Canadians. A Prime Minister and government that provides real vision and leadership we can all be proud of.

A majority of Canadians may say they don't want an election now, but that's because they are not yet convinced an election would change much or that there's no single defining issue. But an election can give us the real debate about our future we didn't get in the last and that we really need as economies restructure across the globe.

Liberals will present a truly alternative compelling vision for this country and Canadians will see we can be so much more than we are.

Stephen Harper was given another chance by Canadians almost a year ago and in every way, he's blown it. The stakes are too high to grant him another reprieve. These tough times demand better.

When Canadians are faced with a choice of positive change and more of the same, the choice will be clear.

Canada needs a new direction and it can't come soon enough.

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For more on why we need an election, see here

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Tag: So what am "I" going to be doing for the Liberal party, you ask?

Another “meme” making its way around the blogosphere is “What are you going to do for your political party”. I didn’t think I had to address this, people should realize that I would do what I could, and even more if it was asked or needed of me. But I’ve been tagged and I don’t want to be disrespectful to my tagger (Quito Maggi) or be the odd one out, leaving people to wonder “what’s up with her?!” I do, after all, want to be kept in the good books of the coolness of what is the blogosphere.

So the Liberal party might not give me any money, but the pay is the enjoyment of serving my province and country, and the Liberal party membership. As a master’s student without wheels, I feel very proud of what I am able to do, and guilty that I am not able to do more and be everywhere. I make the odd trips to the ridings that I have ties to so I continue to show my support and dedication to: Hamilton, Toronto and Kitchener-Waterloo. And I am almost always in the ridings of Brant and Guelph. And I am always doing what I can to bring new faces to the party and help build up the party for the future.

So what tangible things am I going to do? I guess that’s what the meme called for, well I’m going to keep doing what I am doing, and do it well.

1) The Women’s Issues Committee and Mentorship program. This is a great new program started last summer that I currently co-chair as the Ontario Women’s Liberal Commission VP Young Women (a position I’ve held since November). The Women’s Issues Committee is open to male and female young Liberals and will make youth aware of the barriers for females in politics, and hopefully diminish them by education and action through community involvement and policy development always working towards a Canada where gender equality can become a reality and women’s issues get heard loud and clear.

The mentorship program takes established women or senior Ontario Young Liberals who have established ties to the Liberal party and pairs them with new youth members to form bonds, discuss the barriers facing women in politics, diminish any fears of the youth, and expose the youth to networking events, and hopefully have this be a stepping ground for these youth to become more involved in the Liberal party etc… Over 50 women have so far agreed to be mentors for this great program. If you are a prominent female in the party (e.g., provincial or federal candidate, riding association President, Liberal commission executive board member, etc…) and are interested in being a mentor please contact me (danielle.takacs@utoronto.ca). If you are a female young Liberal and would like to have a mentor, please see the Facebook group “Ontario Young Women’s Liberal Association” for more info on how to apply (as well as find more info on the Women’s Issues Committee and other initiatives I am involved in as the OWLC VP Young Women).

2) The Brant Young Liberals which I founded. They’ve had a great first year. The biggest contingent at Summer Fling, North Bay, as well as being the authors of one of the official policies of the OYL for 2007-2008. We helped contribute to Brant winning riding of the year in Southwest region at the LPC(O) AGM. I might add as well that I have been in discussion with members of the LPC(O) Southwest region policy committee to bring the Brant Young Liberals policy to the next biennial. Unfortunately the BYL is at crossroads now, as many people leave Brant for university. We need some new members (14-25 years of age). This is a great opportunity for youth to get involved in their community, organize events, meet politicians, get some policy experience and partake in some really good and fun opportunities like Ontario Model Parliament. If you’re a Brantfordian and interested, please contact me!

3) Working hard to make sure Lloyd St. Amand returns to parliament as he rightly deserves it (and hopefully gets a cabinet position as he would be a dedicated and honourable minister) and helping to send Tyler Banham to Ottawa.

4) Attend as many Liberal events & fundraisers as is possible and manageable for me. They’re fun, and the money goes to some good causes.

5) Blogging? I hope that my words help encourage political discourse and create some good ‘food for thought’.

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Federal Budget Thoughts

So budget day just happens to have come at a really busy time for me, but I thought quickly I’d let my thoughts be known.

I have mixed reaction really. On the hand, I was confident that if we went to the polls over the budget we would win and I was looking forward to that campaign, so I’m a bit disappointed it doesn’t look it’s going to happen.

On the other hand, I agree with people like Dan Arnold (Calgary Grit) and others that this probably wouldn’t have been the best thing to run an election against. The budget is not great but it’s not nearly as terrible as the last two and does have some initiatives that the Liberals have advocated for in it (but it was certainly lacking in many areas and it's clear these guys have recklessly squandered the surplus the Liberals left them). So there are pros to picking another issue to go on.

I hope Dion leaves the option open of bringing down the government on a non-confidence motion later this session before Parliament rises for the summer (maybe over the government’s refusal to bring back the Clean Air Act or something). Maybe he could get all of caucus behind him then with Rae and Martha in the House.

I understand that many people think Dion should have over-ruled those in his caucus and election team that wanted to wait but if the people running the campaign (like David Smith) are certain that it is wiser to wait then you have to give their opinion some weight too. They want to go when they are certain they will win and while you may disagree with that view and may think things won’t get better by waiting but if the guys running things are really certain in their convictions that the Liberals will win for sure if they wait then you can’t fault them for digging in their heels. Ultimately, if the Liberals don’t win (or at least increase their seat count) in the next election you could argue the whole exercise was a waste (as we just end up in the same place) so you want to be confident going in. But as I said I think we would have won had we gone now.

So I understand the disappointment others feel, but we can’t lose sight of the bigger picture. Everyone who was looking forward to the campaign still I’m sure would like Harper gone tomorrow. Well no matter what your misgivings over the Liberal reaction to the budget remember we still have a leader who would be 100 times better Prime Minister than we have now and if we want to see Harper gone I don’t think taking your ball and going home is the answer, as Harper will only benefit. You won’t always agree with what the Liberal Party does but if you were ready to go to bat for them over this budget I hope you can look at the bigger picture once the campaign does finally come (everyone is entitled to vent though of course). We need a better Prime Minister and a better Canada and I still just as strongly believe that the Liberal Party will give us that.

So a part of me is disappointed, but I haven’t lost confidence then when we do on the campaign trail we will have the platform and the vision that will win us the next election.

Back to the books…

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Liberal Policy Series #4: End Atrocities in Darfur (Etobicoke Centre Young Liberals Policy)

It's time to hear about the 4th policy in this 5 part series about Ontario Young Liberal policies. The first three were Enforcing Standards of Practice for Canadian Mining Companies Operating Abroad (a policy I authored which was put forth by the Brant Young Liberals) and Giving Green an Advantage: GST Cut for Environmentally Friendly Products (put forth by the Peterborough Federal Young Liberals) and Opt-Out Organ Donation: Saving Lives and Saving Money (written by Janie Fischer and put forth by the University of Western Young Liberals). I strongly encourage you to read them if you missed them.

This next policy was put forth by the Etobicoke Centre Provincial and Federal Liberal Youth Association. Their President (and founder) Terry Chemij has agreed to talk to you about their policy. Terry's club Etobicoke Centre has been a fairly active since its inception and has successfully managed to get policies of theirs passed as official OYL policy two years running. Terry has been active with the Western Young Liberals as well, whom as I mentioned last time are one of the most active clubs in the Province.

Terry also serves as VP Policy and Education for STAND Western (Students Taking Action Now in Darfur) so in line with that the policy his club pushed and helped pass is about tackling the crisis in Darfur. No one can say this crisis doesn’t need greater attention and it is certainly true that Harper Government has largely neglected it and needs to do more. Paul Martin made it clear to Rick Hillier that he wanted there to be enough Canadian troops left over to help in Darfur if ever needed and Stephen Harper threw that concern to the wind. It is my hope (that I think is shared by many) that the Liberals make helping alleviate the crisis in Darfur a priority when they get back in Government.

So what you see below is what Terry has provided me word for word on his club’s policy. Feel free to give your thoughts...

End Atrocities in Darfur

It can be argued that there is no greater crisis on the face of this planet as genocide. Genocide is taking place right now as you read this, and what are we doing to stop it?

The empty jargon of NEVER AGAIN is just that, an empty promise that the international community and previous generations have made. My hope is that our generation of youth, who I see as passionate and concerned with what is happening around the world, will not stand by and fail humanity once again. If older generations fail to lead, then our generation must step up. We are fully capable as Young Liberals living in this province and in this country during this time to drive the issues that are important to us.

This policy is a drop in a bucket of the larger movement to stand up against injustice. Canada had a window of opportunity to lead the world into the Darfur region and build consensus on a peacekeeping mission. That window of opportunity came and passed. The second best option is to assist with the implementation of UN Resolution 1769. This resolution calls for an African Union and United Nations hybrid peacekeeping force (UNAMID) to protect the innocent civilians and humanitarian aid workers in the region. Canada has not been asked to commit troops. However, the resolution does welcome ongoing preparations for the Hybrid operation including putting in place logistical arrangements, operational policies (such as the establishment and operation of an HQ), as well as financial and administrative mechanisms to ensure effective management of the mission.

Canada has provided financial resources for the mission; however, the mission has been delayed due to limited transport resources and opposition from the Government of Sudan.

We, the future of Canada have leant the lesson of previous unanswered calls for help while death tolls raised to 800,000 in Rwanda. We, the Ontario Young Liberals will not stand by and watch as the death toll in Darfur increases.

It is time that the Young Liberals demand more from the government of Canada. Especially when human lives are what is at stake. It’s time to drive the OYL agenda.

- Terry Chemij, President, Etobicoke Centre Federal and Provincial Liberal Youth Association

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Conservatives Get Your Message Straight, You Sound Like Fools

So it seems the Tories may have realized what a foolish thing it was to try to claim that they would be more fiscally responsible than the Liberals since the records of the two parties aren't even close. We know based on performance who would be more likely to put us in deficit: The Conservatives. So now I read this line here from Jim Prentice:
"The Liberals who administered the country in the past are different than the Liberals under Mr. Dion," Mr. Prentice said, advising reporters to be wary if Liberals "try to take you back in a time machine and claim they are the party that slew the deficit."

Wasn't it only a few months ago when the Conservatives were saying, this was the SAME Liberals that were in power before? Didn't they run a Quebec ad that said Stephane Dion learned everything thing he knew from Jean Chretien? Funny that Prentice talks about Stephane Dion and time machines because I also seem to recall this picture on the Conservative website.

Do they think Canadians have such short memories? As I said this whole latest campaign doesn't even come close to standing up to scrutiny and I think Conservatives are realizing it. I guess it's not the fiirst time they directly contradict themselves. Obviously this latest attack is a disaster, but maybe they will change their message AGAIN tomorrow....

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The Harper Conservatives Are Best Placed to Manage Our Economy? What a Joke!!

The latest Conservative campaign against Stephane Dion is once again a joke that doesn't even come close to holding up to scrutiny. Canadians are supposed to believe that Conservatives are best placed to keep us out of deficit? This coming from a government that brought in two useless GST cuts that have done nothing to help the economy and drained billions and billions from the treasury for no purpose? This coming from a finance minister who when in Ontario Government lied about a $6 billion deficit? This coming from a government that had the biggest spending budget in history last year? What benefit did that focus group driven budget bring the Canadian economy? Now we are talking about the cupboard being bare and economic hard times on the horizon, I wonder why?

Contrast that with a Liberal government that turned a $42 Billion deficit left behind by Conservatives into a Gonvernment Treasury richer than it had ever been in Canadian history. We've gone from reliable surpluses each year to worrying about deficits? Whose fault is that? Who has done such an abysmal job managing the economy to put us in this position? Did he ever worry about deficits with the Liberals in power?

Yet the Conservatives want to claim it would be Stephane Dion who would run Canada into deficit? The records of the two parties are clear, 13 years of solid fiscal responsiblity versus 2 years of reckless economic management.

Everyone knows the Liberals will have a fully costed platform come election time as they have for many years. Stephen Harper just wants to goad them into realeasing their playbook early. Liberals won't fall for that trick and we know there's no way a Liberal government would run us into a deficit so it's a waste of time for Dion to spend much effort dealing with this spin.

So Conservatives can spin all they want for now, but once Canadians see the Liberal platform they'll know Conservatives were lying and will see how much of a better plan the Liberals have for Canada than the Harper Conservatives.

We'll see who has the last laugh.

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Good Policy, Sad Distortions

I have to say Stephane Dion’s infrastructure plan is the right approach we need for an issue that sorely needs government attention. Infrastructure and transit are in dire need of more federal funding. Bridges, tunnels across the country are crumbling and it would cost more later to fix them then it would now. As well, governments should be doing everything they can to prevent tragedies like the falling overpass in Quebec from ever happening again.

We also need to be building up strong public transit networks in the big cities of Canada to cut the number of cars on the road, decrease smog and decrease CO2 emissions so that Canada can start taking a lead on combating global warming. Unfortunately the right amount of funding is not there to do this and in fact some cities have had to cut back their transit networks. The Conservatives have provided some funding for infrastructure but not nearly enough and if they are allowed to stay in power longer our infrastructure and public transit systems will only get worse.

While Jim Flaherty and Stephen Harper don’t care, I’m glad to see Stephane Dion does. His plan is fiscally conservative but also as generous as it should be. At a time of economic uncertainty the right approach is not to make billions and billions of dollars in promises and risk a deficit, but to say that we need to be paying down at least $3 billion a year in debt, but beyond that, additional surplus funds should go to infrastructure. So in tough times we won’t be draining the treasury but when a Liberal government helps get Canada back on its feet again economically and we get a reasonable surplus again, the infrastructure needs in this country will be fully met.

We won’t get this under a Conservative government because they have the wrong priorities for this country, don’t know how to manage the economy, and just don’t care about the needs of cities.

Though you’d think the policy was pretty clear and straightforward: only money over and beyond a $3 billion surplus goes to infrastructure. Still that hasn’t stopped the media from having misleading headlines and people like the NDP making stupid statements based on bad spin.

The headline from CTV: “Dion promises to spend billions on infrastructure”

You’d think from that headline that Dion has made an iron clad promise to spend billions each year no matter the economic forecast and no matter if it puts us into deficit.

Then of course the NDP chime in with their nonsense:
“The NDP says they are not sure where the Liberals will come up with the money to pay for all of their promises....Where is the money going to come from," asked the NDP's national capital commission critic Paul Dewar on Mike Duffy Live.”

I’m sorry but I guess Paul didn’t actually pay attention to what Dion said, it would come out of surplus money, so in good economic times there would be more and in bad times there would be less. So it’s pretty clear where the money would come from. Surely next the Tories will say “Dion is going to have to raise taxes to pay for this promise”

Well Dion’s plan is much more sensible than the media or the other parties lay out, you can’t say it’s not fiscally responsible and you can’t say this issue doesn’t desperately need to be addressed.

When the Liberals put out a great policy, like the carbon budget, like the poverty plan, like this infrastructure plan, the response from the other parties (and sometimes even the media) is always the same, pretend Stephane Dion said something else, throw in some scare tactics (“this plan wil ruin the economy, he’s gonna raise your taxes, boo!”) and spin every way possible.

Anything but admit that the Liberals once again have it right.

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An Issue for 2008: Enforcing Standards of Practice for Canadian Mining Companies Operating Abroad (Liberal Policy Series #1)

This is something that I've wanted to post about for awhile, but I believe with the new year, it's about time something finally get done on this issue.

I have been a supporter for some time of the idea that much more must be done to ensure “Canadian” mining companies (many solely claim Canadian status for the tax incentives) uphold the same environmental and human rights standards that they would if they were mining in Canada.

Specifically, I authored a policy on this issue that my Brant Young Liberals put forth that calls for the Government of Canada to implement the March 29, 2007 recommendations of the "National Roundtables on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the Canadian Extractive Industry in Developing Countries." The recommendations were derived from a series of national roundtables involving the public and governmental and non-governmental experts that were originally commissioned by the former Liberal government in the fall of 2005. The full report can be found here. For shorter summaries of the recommendations and how they came about, please see: here and/or here.

In short, Canada could become a world leader on Corporate Social Responsibility if the federal government and other stakeholders acted on these recommendations. The Brant resolution also noted that if the Government of Canada refused to implement the recommendations, then the Liberal Party of Canada should make it official party policy that they will try to implement them should they form the government in the near future.

This policy is extremely important as it relates not only to upholding basic human rights and environmental standards, but also to protecting and enhancing Canada's international reputation. When these mining companies, (which, at often times are only Canadian for the tax incentives that Canada offers to companies), are responsible for major human rights and/or environmental abuse abroad (of which there are countless examples), it reflects poorly on our country and can even breed resentment in some of these countries of Canadians in general. The recommendations of the March 29 2007 report merely ask that Canadian mining companies adhere to similar practices abroad as they do here at home and a series of incentives and punishments are advocated to ensure compliance. This is an instance where Canada can once again take the lead on an important issue and be a role model to the rest of the world, much as it has been with countless other efforts, such as the Responsibility to Protect doctrine, for example.

This resolution was passed at the OYL Summer Fling as one of the top 3 policies favoured by young liberals and it is my hope that it will be lobbied successfully to the senior party. So far there is much work to be done in that regard; however, this is really is an issue the Liberal Party of Canada should take a clear stance on. The NDP has also taken some interest in this issue and I applaud them for that and I would actually be quite happy if the two parties worked together to get something done on this issue.

That said, I welcome any and all feedback or advice you could provide to improve upon the resolution that was passed to ensure what goes forward from this point on is as sound as possible.

This issue affects a huge number of people in the 3rd world and we can no longer turn a blind eyet to it. The time has come to help ensure Canadian companies don't tarnish our good name and operate responsibly overseas.

UPDATE: I noticed the link to the full report was broken. It's been fixed.

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