I’ve supported the Liberal Party of Canada almost my entire political life and I’m a political junkie of the worst order to boot. Yet I can’t say the party excites me. I could talk politics for hours, yet in that time most of what you’ll hear me say is what is wrong with the NDP and what is wrong with the Cons. I’ll barely mention the Grits. I like the Liberals don’t get me wrong. I don’t support them because they are a “lesser evil” but it wouldn’t take much for an electable political party to steal my vote. In this blog I’m not going to get in to what brought about the parties near death experience. I don’t have the time to write a book. And I’m not going to talk about what they need to do to get elected next election. I’m not a God. What I will be doing is saying what kind of Liberal party would get me excited to vote for the party, the kind of Liberal Party would get me talking about its virtues over its enemies faults. 

    There are 6 main changes I’d like to see in the party. The first and most important is to see the Liberals be the “freedom and individuality party.” Right now, there is a serious want for that in Canadian politics. I feel no party really seems to stand firm for those values, although the Conservatives are farm worse than the NDP with the Liberals being only slightly better than they are. Individuals are not just the best of judges of how to live their own lives but also the chief mechanism of social progress. These values were at the core of classical liberalism and I believe they should be at the center of current liberal thinking again. Some of the measures going down this path would include:

            -Legalizing a wider range of drugs

            -Revoking the unconstitutional laws surrounding prostitution

            -Adamantly supporting charter rights, even when it is not politically expedient

            -Providing more tools and opportunities for Canada’s entrepreneurs

            -Getting rid of unnecessary red tape for businesses

-Battling against affirmative action and similar such policies

-Increased funding to organizations that help battle against unjust discrimination

- Tackling the issue of rigid “seniority” policies in the public sector unions

-Respecting the bargaining process between agents in the free market engaged in labour disputes

-Opposing the notion of “Canadian Values” and “Canadian Culture”

    These are but a few broad examples of how the party could stand for the values of freedom and individuality, pick and choose as you please. A party committed to these notions would be one that believes you judge individuals on merit and virtue alone. It would be a party that believes in the values of Canadians not “Canadian values.” It would be a party that trusts Canadians to be captains of their own destinies, which in turn betters their own lives, and those of their fellow citizens.

   The second change I’d like to see is a genuine attempt to do politics differently. By this, I don’t mean the substanceless promise you hear from the NDP all day and night. I mean a genuine attempt. I mean talking about ideas in bold and controversial ways when the situation calls for it. If you support the senate, say it. Don’t just talk about why Harper’s senate plan is wrong while avoiding comment on the senate as a whole. Say you support the senate and why. Don’t be afraid to say it serves as a power check not just on the Prime Minister, but on populism as well. It may be controversial, but don’t avoid the topic to please people. Win the people over. Don’t be afraid to be politically incorrect. Don’t be afraid to run offbeat candidates. Don’t be afraid to be people in front of the cameras. And stop with the talking points. You think substantial issue discussion doesn’t work? Find a way. Instead of running ads that appeal to our lowest instincts run adds that say, “Hey, we can’t explain why you should vote for us in an add, not even close. So visit our website and let us explain our ideas in detail.” Stop with the sensationalism and start with the substance. I believe the Liberals are already by far the best for this. I’d like to see them take it to the next level.

    The third change is to reaffirm your commitment to pragmatism. The other parties are always going to have the “moral high ground” on the Liberals. Why? They are ideological. They act closer in accordance with absolutes. This makes it easier to make you out as wishy-washy and unprincipled. Don’t fight them on those grounds you’ll loose. Take the pragmatic high ground.

“We’re here. We make decisions based on comprehensive analysis of situations and act in accordance with the greater good. Get used to it!”

   Don’t be afraid to say things like, “I support worker’s rights. But we need to weaken some of our public sector unions.” (Note: I do not believe this is the common opinion in the Liberal party but it is my own) Some people will call you hypocrites, many already do considering the party is so pragmatic as is, but others will respect that you look for answers rather than justifications for your ideology. The liberals are already a party of pragmatism by-and-large but its time to shout it louder. You don’t want to seem like watered down NDP or watered down Conservatives? Don’t play the ideological game. Play the pragmatic one. You will stand out and you will win.

   The fourth issue is the deficit. I agree with the Liberal message on the deficit so far. In fact, I agree with the message from all the parties so far. It’s the same from everyone, “We need to tackle it but now is not the right time, the economy is too fragile.” Depending on the party, they say it with different buzzwords, but the message is roughly the same. Be the party that does more than pay lip service to balanced budgets. Lord knows we need at least one. Run on a 3-part platform: Economic Growth, Increased Revenue, and Spending Cuts. It is how you did it in the 90s, it’s the best way to do it moving forward. But don’t be afraid to say it isn’t easy. Tell the voters this, “Our quality of life will go down this is inevitable. We’ll be paying more and getting less from government. But we as a country have been living beyond our means. We need to pay the price for that now, before it’s too late and the consequences of our excesses come to roost.” Don’t sugar coat it. Don’t pretend it can be done purely through attrition. Make sure people know its going to be hard. Make sure they know its necessary. And make sure people know the Cons have not balanced a budget since 1922. Make sure they know you balanced budgets for nearly a decade straight before the people threw you out of government. Now may not be the time for the heavy cuts, but it is coming. As a government in waiting you need to be prepared to deal with it.

    Fifth, be the party of education. Increase funding to education at all levels, and of all types. The statistics are clear: countries don’t spend on education, they invest. Increased spending on education is a, pardon the irony,  no-brainer even on the economic side. Then factor in the quality of life increase it would provide Canadians it becomes a hard issue to oppose, the evidence is overwhelming and the issue is by-partisan. Be the party to champion it. [To be fair the Liberals did do this last election, they just had messaging issues.]

    The sixth is the hardest of all. Apologize. Apologize for the NEP. Apologize for the sponsorship scandal. Apologize for ignoring The West. Apologize for growing out of touch with the people. If you don’t recognize your mistakes, you’ll spend all your time defending them. Your opponents will make sure of it. Promise people more of what worked about the party and none of what didn’t.

    These are just some of the ways the Liberal party could be something that excites, at least for me. There are others such as reaffirming the value of our judicial system as a check on the other branches of government, a comprehensive health care cost reduction strategy or even a plan to make our justice system more progressive and pragmatic by expanding the role of mental health and addiction services. I could go on. Some of what I have mentioned the Liberals are already doing, although not quite well enough, others would be but small changes and some would require radical re-thinking of what it means to be a Liberal in Canada. A lot of this is controversial. Some of it will cost you votes. But if you do these things you’ll prove you stand for something. You’ll prove you have vision. You’ll prove you’re not just the lesser evil. If nothing else, you’ll have my vote.