Apolitical Staples

when a complex one will do. That is how I see all the analysis of the Liberal Party moving forward. Let's look at James Travers latest as a starting point.

...These are desperate times for Liberals. So desperate some now wish Stephen Harper had won a majority. Why? For at least two intriguing reasons. One is that a really painful spanking would have led to more introspective appraisals of the party's behavioural problems. Strangely, the other is that four guaranteed years in opposition would have attracted stars now missing from a leadership race that really starts this weekend. Those reasons are connected by the uncertainties of minority government. Still within striking distance of a premature return to power, Liberals are struggling to decide if their first priority is to rush a new leader into place in readiness for the next election or to take the time to fully understand and fix what went so horribly wrong in the last.

All of this talk of pragmatism vs. principle (this is the Liberal Party, we all know what will win that argument) ignores the key issue. The pundits seem to be focused on when the Liberals regain power. They should instead be focusing on how. You can call it the electoral legacy of Pierre Trudeau. The Liberals have been shut out of the prairies since the '70's edition of Trudeau. Further, the '80's Trudeau shifted their Quebec prospects from 74 out 75 seats to an upward ceiling in the low 20's. The united right limits the Quebec growth (and made the Liberals the third option) and have made a Chretien sweep of Ontario impossible. There in no bridge strategy available to them under the present circumstances. Blame that on a philosophical
legacy of Trudea. "Who will speak for Canada" may play well in Toronto but it is the road to failure in Quebec and the West.

To his credit Buzz Hargrove and his ilks unite-the-left movement does address the how. At least part of it. Unless it can bring the Bloc Quebecois into the fold (easier typed than done) it does not address the Quebec problem. It won't work in large parts of the praries as well. It also improves urban ridings from super majorities to super-mega-ultra majorities. Finally, you can look to the PC-CA merger to see that 1+1 does not equal 2 in these processes. The electoral board would indeed shift but would it shift enough?

For now the Liberal Party is now the party of the city (and Atlantic Canada). The problem for them is that there are not enough seats in this coalition to win a majority.