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Liberals Dial Emergency

Eavesdropping on Paul Martin's post-election conference call.

Jonathan Ross 1 Feb 2006TheTyee.ca

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It seems that every time a leadership contender announces a lack of interest in putting their hat into the ring (Manley, McKenna, Tobin), two new names magically appear, furthering the wild speculation and jockeying that now grips the beleaguered Liberal Party of Canada.

Last Thursday, the Liberal national executive, several campaign strategists, including campaign chairman David Herle, and the Prime Minister-for-the-moment Paul Martin participated in a post-election conference call to discuss the election and future of the party.

Sources say the content of that call, however, was full of contradictions and opposing forces that collectively represent the various paths of the proverbial fork in the road that Grits face across the country.

Take for example David Herle’s early acceptance of blame for the failure of the Liberal campaign. This is of course in stark contrast to the David Herle of August 2005, when as a cocky pollster, he told the Liberal caucus that a majority government was possible with or without Quebec. He also waxed poetically about how Paul Martin “moves votes.”

Well at least he got something right.

How’s the bank balance?

Another confusing aspect of the call concerned the party’s debt load, which has been the basis of much an internal stress long before a campaign that lasted for 56 days. The financial management committee contended that the Liberal party was only in debt to the tune of $4 to $5 million. This figure came as a shock to most, as according to Elections Canada the final annual filing for 2004 stated that the Liberal Party of Canada was $34,818,257.32 in debt by way of 13 bank loans. Furthermore, reviewing the published fundraising activities of the Liberal Party shows that they reported only $4,194,591.49 in fundraising for the first 3 quarters of 2005.

Something doesn’t quite add up.

The call also presented the dichotomy between renewing the party and choosing a new leader. It was acknowledged that the national biennial convention, which elects executive members, sets party rules and regulations and formulates grassroots policy, must be held by the spring of 2007. Tom Axworthy, principal secretary to Pierre Trudeau from 1981 to 1984, was also appointed to conduct an internal inquiry into what went wrong in this election and present suggestions on where the party needs to head. Axworthy’s work will include a cross-Canada tour to speak to Liberal party members from coast to coast.

On the other side of the coin, the majority of participants showed an anxiousness to have a leadership convention in the fall, a process that would consume Liberals to the detriment of any other initiative. If a convention were to be scheduled for October, it was announced that the cut-off for selling memberships would most likely fall in mid-June, a deadline that would all but ensure political hysteria over the coming 6 months. The executive is slated to next meet in March to officially select a date.

If one forgets for a moment the history of membership hoarding that the Liberals have become synonymous with, and instead focuses on a party that has had no recent success in branding itself, it becomes crystal clear as to why the order of the abovementioned scenarios is a bad idea.

Looking for a saviour

This past Liberal campaign was criticized both externally and internally by resembling a rudderless iceberg; a reactionary spending machine carelessly banging into issues without the benefit of thought or direction. If prioritizing is an art, then Paul Martin is the Milli Vanilli of politics – a bunch of #1’s, until people caught onto the façade.

The Liberal party is looking for a saviour when it can’t even define what it stands for.

Now is the time to gather the membership, and intensely debate and discuss ideas, changes, grievances, hopes, dreams – all things that really should be hashed out long in advance of choosing a new leader. For a party trying to decide on the future, it makes a lot of sense to guide leadership candidates by the will of the membership.

This Liberal party has become a country club of inequality, and in its current state, the baby most definitely needs to be thrown out with the bath water. Drastic change is needed.

Axworthy’s involvement in examining the Liberal party gives plenty of reasons to feel optimistic about the future, as referenced in a recent Toronto Star column detailing his approach to this daunting task:

“The mantra of the party must be inclusion. Before the party again flies apart into various leadership coups, Liberals of all stripes, regions and generations should once again learn to work together.”

Liberals can only hope that the national executive takes heed of this advice before it charts its course to steer Canadians away from Stephen Harper’s view of Canada.

Jonathan Ross is a public policy and political consultant through his company TDH Strategies, and writes daily political commentaries at his website. As a Liberal-in-exile over the past few years, he is looking forward to renewing his party membership.  [Tyee]

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