The Liberal Party of Canada hopefully has received a wake up call that it is no longer the natural governing party of Canada. Now is a time of renewal as indicated in this editorial.
The people leading the renewal of the party have to look beyond appealing to the rent seekers and influence peddlers who have shaped the party policy in recent years. This stance had led the party into a political dead end.
In times past, the Liberal Party has been a positive influence in Canada for advancing meritocracy and social mobility. Those days may be long in the past, but they are still a history that the party can draw upon for renewal. The party has to reach back into its past to find the principles that people should advance based on their skills and capabilities instead of their inherited privileges, social standing and ethnic/cultural background.
A real test of their renewal effort is whether the Liberal Party can come up with an agenda that appeals to me and others who populate the Libertarian segment of the political world. There is a need for a political option for people who believe in small government, responsible fiscal management, and socially liberal policies. Pierre Trudeau may have got a lot of things wrong, but his desire to get government out of the bedrooms of the nation was a good start. Will a future Liberal leader finish the job and get government out of the rest of our house?
One thing a renewed Liberal Party needs to figure out is how to achieve its policy objectives without requiring big government. Their defeat in the last two elections should be a loud signal that Canadians have and will reject bigger and more interventionist government in their lives. Carbon taxes, universal daycare, and other aspects of the nanny state have been rejected. It is time to move on to better ideas.
Some ideas that I would recommend for the Liberal Party to consider in moving forward include:
- promoting merit over heritage
- expanding personal liberty and responsibility instead of social engineering and seeking to control personal decisions
- increasing the role of competition and reducing the influence of monopolies in our economy
- creating a fiscally responsible government that does not burden future generations with debt.
In recent years, the Liberal Party has drifted into a blind alley of vested interests and rent seekers. The movement and the party does not need to end up in that destination and I genuinely hope that in the next federal election they will be positioned to capture my support.
