Liberal Party President Alfred Apps issued the following statement this evening:
On behalf of Liberals everywhere, I first want to thank and congratulate our leader, Michael Ignatieff, for waging a spirited national campaign. Mr. Ignatieff won the affection of all those who rallied to his side. He has earned the admiration and respect of all Canadians.
This is a profoundly difficult moment for our party.
Monday’s defeat was a deeply personal experience – for each of our hard-working candidates, for our tireless volunteers and for our many longtime and loyal supporters. Despite the outcome, Liberals everywhere can be proud of the battle that we waged together, as well as the tremendous team and the positive platform we offered to Canadians. Throughout this campaign, we have stood fast for democratic principle and for the kind of Canada that all Liberals believe in – progressive, compassionate, responsible – a Canada of hope for all Canadians.
But there is no avoiding the fact that we now face an historically unprecedented challenge. Our future as a party will depend, more than ever, on preserving our unity, broadening our vision and keeping clear and cool heads over the coming weeks and months about what we need to do.
As we reflect soberly and respectfully over the coming days on the democratic judgment of Canadians, we need to recognize that our party’s remarkable contribution to Canadian history was never a guarantee of its future health and success. We can only earn back the confidence of Canadians by rediscovering our confidence in ourselves and in the continuing relevance of our values.
It will take some time and it will not be easy.
In the wake of our defeat, we Liberals will have to reach out more broadly than we have in half a century to find a new generation of activists – to Canadians who love their country and are ready and able to fight for a new agenda of reform, to Canadians who care about equality of opportunity and are prepared to make serious personal sacrifices for the good of their fellow citizens, to Canadians who want to make a difference and are willing to demonstrate the courage of their convictions against all odds and come what may. We need to build a party that is a beacon for the Canada of tomorrow, rather than an echo of bygone glories – a party whose diversity truly reflects the Canada we are becoming.
Rather than wringing hands or assigning blame, we need to move forward to a reasonable period of constructive stability and collective reflection. My hope is that all Liberals will stand back, take the long view of our challenges and prepare themselves for the work ahead. While we all have to accept and learn from defeat, it does not mean that Liberalism is dead in Canada or that liberal values are suddenly misguided, or out of place or out of date. Far from it.
Our commitment as Liberals remains to a resolutely centrist political party, to a program that blends and balances fiscal responsibility with social compassion, to a philosophy that understands the potential of a mixed market economy but believes in the power of government to achieve good, not only for individuals but also for the nation as a whole. We have always been a proudly pragmatic party, united around a broad and moderate consensus and a vision of Canada as more than the sum of its parts. We must not now surrender to tired ideologies, whether of the right or the left, in search of what can work in the real world to make the lives of Canadians better.
When Canadians are ready again for that kind of leadership – and they will be – we have to be ready to lead.
When a new Canadian consensus begins to emerge – as it will – Liberals need to be there to help shape it.
This is not the time for making rash judgments or drawing speedy conclusions. This is not the time for Liberals to be seduced by political expediency or parliamentary convenience.
This is a time for wide open debate, for moving forward together, for the broadest possible participation from Liberals in the major decisions that lie ahead. And all of us who occupy party offices across the land at every level of our organization need to steel our resolve and renew our commitment!
This is also the time for all Liberals to practice in our own home what we always preach to others – respect. As we move to rebuild, we must genuinely respect the honestly held viewpoints of each party member, including all in our deliberations. We must respect the bedrock principles of democratic process and ensure open debate on all major questions affecting our party’s future. Above all, we must ensure that the only agenda on the table is one that puts the Liberal Party first in the service of Canada and Canadians.
We can undertake the reform and rebuilding our party in a way that puts respect for people, for democracy and for our party first. If we do, I am confident that the legendary resilience and resourcefulness of ordinary Liberals will soon carry us all through to a brighter day for our party and for our country. The sheer enormity of the challenge ought to serve as an inspiration to us all.
Rebuilding and renewal starts with every Liberal but this is no time for the faint-hearted. We need Liberals with the energy and commitment who are ready to dust themselves off and get the job done. Please let us know how you want to help.
The real significance of the Canadian federal election–This Globe and Mail story, “Canada’s new electoral divide: It’s about the money” (May 4), states that “The true divide, the new reality of Canadian politics, is between the economic heartlands that the Conservatives now dominate throughout the country and the economic hinterlands won by the NDP.” I differ.
The true divide, as it was in the 2008 election but ever more so now, is between Québec and the Rest of Canada (RoC, once quaintly known as English Canada). The Conservatives in Québec this year won 16.5 per cent of the popular vote and only six seats out of 75, that is eight per cent of them.
In the RoC the Conservatives won 48 per cent of the vote (almost a majority, in a contest with three other serious parties) and 167 of 233 seats, that is a whopping 72 per cent of them. The difference with Québec could hardly be more pronounced.
The clear fact is that the Conservatives are dominant at this point in the RoC while barely a force in la belle province. Moreover Ontario, Alberta and British Columbia are in line to receive significant numbers of new seats to reflect their increase in population. Most of those seats will be suburban ones, just the sort of seat very likely to be picked up by the Conservatives. So it seem probable that their dominance in the RoC will increase; meanwhile it is hard to see any great breakthrough for them in Québec in light of the three most recent federal election results there.
So the true great Canadian political divide looks well set only to widen further.
Mark
Ottawa
Votes reference.