Fiberal Party of Canada RIP

What's come out of the Liberals recent convention?
1) A commitment to allow any tom, dick and harry to vote for the next leader of the party.

2) A Party President vote, hotly contested, with a nail biting internal division revealing 26 vote margin.

3) Unrealistic Potentially fatal Policy votes to legalize marijuana and a centralizing Trudeauesque like push to force provinces to provide access (aka fund) abortions.

The end result is a third party, with a poor base, dwindling membership and now with an open invitation for any special interest group to swoop in and radically take control. Imagine had the old federal PCs passed a similar measure pre-merger - David Orchard's face off with Peter MacKay would have ended quite different.

And a third party divided it certainly is - Sheila Copps has managed to be rejected a second time by her own political home. The first time being when she was forced straight out of politics by the Paul Martin Dictatorship that took hold circa 2005. Her return represented a potential reversal in direction for a Liberal Party dominated by Martin turned Iggy Puff Dons. I would suspect that this will temper Bob Rae's leadership ambitions.

But to make matters worse, the Liberals have still not managed to figure themselves out policy wise. Legalizing Marijuana? Really? Just how do they expect they will do this and maintain an open border with the US? Magic?

Don't get me wrong, I would support the move in an ideal world, but I would also like to win the 649 - neither isn't happening to soon.

And then they lob a gift to Stephen Harper and craft a policy to penalize provinces who refuse to provide funding for abortions. It's like a Conservative fantasy come true.

Harper, dealing currently with an open abortion rebellion in his caucus from pro-life MPs unwilling to wait any longer finds a Liberal Party willing to give him something that will simultaneously unite his caucus in opposition while at the same time drive the banning-abortion issue solidly into the background.

And on top of everything about these policies - did anyone bother to ask if Canadians will care? When the average Canuck is changing his 2 year old's diapers at 3am, will he really care about legalizing pot? As the average Canuck is rushing to work in the morning will he/she give one iota about abortion?

Did anyone in the Liberal Party even think about what Canadians care about right now? I dunno... maybe like the Economy - I'm just throwing out wild ideas here!

Hold on wait here it comes... Another National Daycare Program will be suggested next... What a mess!

Fiberals Until The Very End

New figures show that, despite the Liberal claim the party spent "very close" to what it was legally permitted on this year's campaign, it actually spent far, far less.

(...)

"Do you guys make this s--- up on the fly? Are you kidding me?" Ian McKay said in an e-mail. "You're so wrong it is laughable. Don't give up your day job if you're actually considering journalism as a future career," he continued.

"I cannot stand by and watch as you publish a piece that is complete and utter rubbish."(link)

I expect that Justin Trudeau will immediately come out and offer a heartfelt sincere apology (filled with qualifications galore) on behalf of Liberals that he won't mean whatsoever.

Not to pick on Justin, this is a Fiberal Party wide problem.

It's called institutional arrogance. It's a pesky thing. Usually the first sign that you have it is you start believing you don't.

But, oh I forgot - the Liberal Party ran a brilliant campaign in 2011 and lost because of some sort of magical "disconnect" with voters... Arrogance, mission drift, and a profound hatred of anything rural, Western, or religious had of course not a thing to do with the result.

Liberals Never Learn

Canadians love Big Ideas - don't they?

They love politicians that obsess about stuff they don't care about... You know things that have nothing to do with putting food on the table, getting the garbage out, getting the kids to school...

Canada should entrench economic rights such as the right to timely heath care and a decent education into an updated Charter of Rights and Freedoms, the president of the Liberal Party of Canada said on Thursday.

Alfred Apps, who faced calls from within the party for his resignation after the Liberals’ crushing electoral defeat, speaking to the Empire Club of Canada in a downtown Toronto ballroom, said his party should make the push for a “second Charter” one its fundamental long-term goals.(link)

I'm sure Alfred is a nice guy, but holy moly was this a bad time to be talking "big ideas" as an embattled Liberalismo Party Presidentay.

Just recently the Manning Institute released a poll showing that Canucks don't like Big Ideas.

To fair I don't think Canucks have ever liked Big Ideas. Meech Lake and Charlottetown are good evidence of that.

To make matters worse for Apps, these really aren't good ideas.

Who out there really believes by enshrining a fantastical right for Canucks to Free Healthcare in a "timely manner" will actually guarantee it?

Further, if we really wanted to talk about expanding the Charter, wouldn't you want to go to the most glaring problem - no property rights?