One thing the Liberals need — say Liberals themselves — is a policy convention. The last time the Liberals met to formulate policies was in Ottawa in March 2005. The keynote speaker on the Friday before the conference began was none other than a Harvard professor named Michael Ignatieff. He spoke about small-l liberalism and the state of the Canadian Liberal Party.
Now, as Ignatieff prepares to take over the leadership of said Liberal Party, it's interesting to go back to that speech and take a look at what might stand, at this point, as his manifesto. Happily, you need not look around too much for it because I blogged the speech in its entirety here back in 2005.
As I see it, the Liberal party has three essential purposes:
” To protect and enhance our national unity
” To preserve and defend our national sovereignty
” To advance the cause of social justice.
Je voudrais parler de la base morale de notre action politique : l'unité nationale d'abord; la souveraineté canadienne ensuite; et enfin, la justice sociale pour tous nos citoyens.
Unity, sovereignty, justice: the three fundamentals. Everything else is detail.