Letter to Ignatieff

Last week I was having lunch with a friend and briefly the subject of politics came up.  I expressed some of my views on Ignatieff to which she responded that I should write him a letter about my views. My response was, I would but it would not likely get anywhere near him. I thought about that and decided that be damn if it gets anywhere near him, I’ll write my letter here on my blog. So here goes:

I joined the Liberal Party of Canada in July of this year. While I’ve spent a lifetime reading and thinking about politics and how our leaders (or lack), shapes my country, I’ve never before made the decision to commit myself to a political party.

I’ve always leaned towards liberalism, largely because I have a deep-seated belief that one of the great strengths of this country is our social safety net which provides a level of support for those at the lower socioeconomic levels of our society. That sense of social responsiblity balanced with fiscal responsibility has always come from the Liberal Party of Canada.

So, why did I join in July? After a few years of what appeared to me as utter chaos within the party due to their infighting and weak leadership, there appeared to be a leader with some integrity and vision. I still think you have the integrity, but to be frank, I’m having a lot of trouble with discerning your vision.

Where’s the vision?

You seem to be spending a lot of energy and air time reacting to Harper. Canadians know what Harper is, the problem is they don’t yet see a viable alternative to him.  True there are aspects of Harper the Canadian people don’t fully realize or appreciate how wrong he is, but they still don’t see a viable alternative. Why do you think Canadians haven’t yet given him a majority government?

The danger is Canadians will tire of minority governments and try for a majority not because they want Harper but because there is no alternative choice?  So why aren’t you showing them that you are an alternative?

You speak with a lot of rhetoric and broad statements. You don’t come across as having a plan or a vision, so why will Canadians embrace you? Obama got away with soaring rhetoric during his election campaign, you wont. Americans were hungry for hope and change. Canadians are election weary, we may want hope and change but we need more than rhetoric to hang our hat on, we’ve been to the polls too often in the last few years.

So what’s a politican to do?

I realize Harper and his thugs are masterful in engaging in the lowest of lowbrow tactics in eviscerating his adversaries. You said it yourself, he sees every adversary as a public enemy who needs to be crushed. So, rise so high that he can’t reach you. We both know bullies are only effective while they have an audience.

Harper has an audience because not only does he yell long and hard, he puts forth visions and sticks tenaciously to them until he’s shown a strong need to modify his stance. Nothing wrong with being pragmatic, some genuine humility and honesty would be nice.

So, Micheal Ignatieff, what is your vision? You speak of this recession being a restructuring of our economy. Restructuring into what and more importantly how will we get to that new restructured economy? What will a Liberal government do to make sure all Canadians have opportunities in this restructured economy? How will a Liberal government do this without burdening Canadians with an unfair tax load?

The Skinny on Taxes

Speaking of taxes. I don’t, and I dont’ know many Canadians who think differently, believe for a moment that in order to get Canada out of the deficit we are in that taxes in some form are not going to rise. Why the blazes are you trying to convince Canadians that a Liberal government will not raise taxes?

If you truly believe you can do that and not dismantle vital government programs and services, then you need to lay out the blueprint. If you can’t do that, I suggest you come clean with not only under what circumstances taxes may rise but how you will establish transparency so Canadians can see the need to shoulder more personal and corporate cost. It is long overdue for politicans to start having adult conversations with the electorate who pay you.

Is the Social Safety Net Safe?

The social safety net is what makes Canada strong, yet it is what the Liberals have had to fight to build and maintain. What will a Liberal government do to sustain and strengthen this net in these tough economic times?

What About Jobs?

Obviously, in order for Canadians to pay into the cost of running this country, they need to be generating income. You talk in broad terms about creating the green jobs of tomorrow today. What green jobs? How are they going to be created? How are workers going to get the training or knowledge to qualify for these jobs?

In the last year the Canadian economy has shed 500,000 jobs. That’s the obvious fallout. This recession didn’t just appear out of the ether. We’ve been moving towards it for several years as good paying jobs in many sectors dried up in this country and left workers scrambling to find lower paying (mostly service sector) jobs. What will a Liberal government do to get those often highly qualified people back into good paying jobs when we know a large number of those jobs are gone forever?

The government’s stimulus programs are due to run out around 2011. What exactly are they going to do to ensure employment then? A large number of those jobs will only run the length of the project. Even better, what will the Liberals do?

And Then There is the Climate

What will a Liberal government do in order for Canada to do its part in the fight against global climate change? Seems to me another adult conversation on the subject is long overdue.  How can Canada meet or exceed carbon reduction standards without forcing the country deeper into economic hardship? What will restructured emissions entail? What will it mean to me as an average Canadian?

Is there the technology available to reduce the carbon footprint of the Alberta Tar Sands without that part of the country losing its economic driving force?

My Thoughts?

I think you need to be fleshing out some of these questions into visions which can be clearly communicated to Canadians. Canadians need to be able to look to a leader who speaks to their concerns about where this country is going and is able to present a vision which is believable and attainable.

We know the world is changing in ways which will never change back. What we don’t know is how to adapt to those changes in a way that makes our country, our communities and ourselves stronger and better. That is why we need leadership with vision not rhetoric.

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