Cornwall ON – This past weekend there was a great thinking of minds. There was gnashing of the teeth at the state of Canada and the future of some of its citizens. There was talk of pensions; two tiered Medicare, and other oddities.
The concept was a great reaching out to Canadians, to talk about issues and recharge the Liberal Party of Canada’s Zeitgeist behind ex-leader to be Michael Ignatieff.
The great event took place in Montrea; the big names of Liberal Politics attended, and the local Liberal Candidate like in many other ridings in Canada skyped in via the web and did her own thing here in Cornwall.
So where does that take Canada to now? I was chatting with a local Mayoral candidate last week over coffee. A very nice and well meaning person and we started to talk about the upcoming election.
I shared that you can’t win on the ground the Mayor currently owns. You can’t support an incumbent’s position and say “Vote for Me!” Then again many times you can’t simply say “I’ll do the opposite” either. I think in many ways that’s where the Liberals under Michael Ignatieff find themselves; under the wheels of Stephen Harper’s Campaign bus.
As former New Brunswick premier Frank McKenna whispered to former prime minister Paul Martin halfway through debate on one of the intractable problems: “We’re f****d”. Responded Mr. Martin: “The whole world is f****d.”
I love Frank McKenna. I think right now, today, he’s the only politician that could take on Stephen Harper and wipe the floor with him. I think Stevie Boy knows it too deep down under his sweater vests.
There are two challenges that a Party like the Liberals need to face. You either have to find something to spark those apathetic voters who keep sitting out (youth, those overworked paying taxes who have no time to think deep thoughts) or you have to pander to those that do vote.
The party that figures out how to do the first will probably be our next government. The party that tries to do the second will probably find themselves not the official opposition next election.
What do you think Canada? Did you watch any of the Canada 150 events? Do you care? You can post your comments below.
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