Michael Ignatieff is crisscrossing the country early next year in hopes of “reaching out to Canadians” in anticipation of a major policy conference that many Grits hope will jump start the party’s sagging morale and fortunes.
The conference, Canada at 150: Rising to the Challenge, is to be held in Montreal from March 26 to 28. The Liberal Leader has spoken much in his speeches about the 150th anniversary of Canada, musing as to where the country will be and what it will look like at that time. In fact, he has been criticized for offering nice-sounding rhetoric rather than serious policy direction for the party.
This conference, to which so-called progressive thinkers and activists will be invited, is in the spirit of the 1960 Kingston Conference and the 1991 Aylmer Conference. The two previous big Liberal policy conferences provided new ideas, directions and policies for the party.
“The Harper government, with its resolute and cynical focus on short-term politics, has shown it doesn’t have a horizon further than tonight’s newscast. And Canadian families are suffering because of it,” Mr. Ignatieff says in a statement regarding the conference.
Although he won’t be stepping out on his Canadian town-hall adventure until early in the new year, the first session is to be held in Ottawa next month. It will focus on trade and be moderated by Liberal trade critic Scott Brison.
“It’s no big secret that I’m someone who gets very excited about ideas,” Mr. Ignatieff says. “Not for their own sake. But for their ability to change our world and – most important of all – to improve people’s lives in a tangible, concrete way.”
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Update Mr. Ignatieff is appearing tonight at the “Liberal Tribute Dinner” in Woodbridge, Ont. Not a very appropriate title for a party that has little to pay tribute to these days. Still, the party must go on.
Tonight’s dinner was originally to have taken place Oct. 1. Back in the summer when it was being planned, it was expected that this dinner would be the kick-off to a federal election campaign. Had the universe unfolded as Liberals wanted it to, they would have successfully defeated the minority government on a confidence motion at the end of September.
That strategy backfired as Canadians made it clear – especially in the national opinion polls – that they didn’t want an election any time soon. And the dinner was rescheduled until tonight. It is expected that between 800 and 1000 people will attend the event.
Says one long-time Grit strategist: “It was important for our party to get such a big number out given our present state.”
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(Photo: Mr. Ignatieff speaks to reporters yesterday in the foyer of the House of Commons. Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
