Liberal Party of Canada: R.I.P.

A few months ago, a Liberal Party official and blogger raised readers’ ire when he proclaimed that the NDP was dead and no longer needed. Hindsight is always 20/20 vision, so they say, and it is beginning to look as if the shoe is really on the other foot: the party that is obsolete is the Liberal Party.

The Liberals were kicked in their collective groin in January and sent to the opposition benches. Canadians had had enough of all the corruption, lying and, generally, a disregard for Canadians that was beginning to shine through even for the most blinkered among us.

The current leadership campaign is the party’s one and only chance to prove to Canadians that they have learned their lesson, that they will forswear all forms of corruption and always tell the truth. As the recent incident with Joe Volpe’s campaign shows, the party has failed the test. It is becoming painfully clear that the Liberals still have a long way to go before they can be considered ‘reformed’ – if ever.

Now comes news from a Québec-based columnist that the Liberals have been unable to meet their quota for attracting new members, with even the putative frontrunners such as Michael Ignatieff speaking to empty or almost empty conference rooms.

After the Volpe debacle, which also saw the Liberal Party as a whole add to its already considerable taint, Canadians are probably getting so fed up that they will kick the Liberals out on their keister.

Do we still need the Liberal Party? With the Harper Conservatives covering the centrist and right-of-centre field, there really is no room left for the Liberals. On the left, however, the position is already taken by the NDP, and it is doubtful that the Liberals can do a credible impersonation of a left-wing party - credible enough to push the NDP aside.

In other words, Canada seems to be moving to a two-party system which will see the Conservatives at one end of the spectrum and the NDP at the other. Personally, I’d take an NDPer over a Liberal any day: an NDPer tells a lie perhaps 25% to 40% of the time, whereas a Liberal … well, you know.

But seriously: the NDP is more reliable when it comes to pushing through its policies. With them, at least, we know where we stand. The Liberals, if Paul Martin was any indication, will change their position on everything at least once every hour of the day. Liberals are driven by publicity, power and self-interest alone, not by policies, conviction or a genuine concern for the interests of Canadians.

According to a recent poll, 28% of NDP voters are happy with a Tory government, and if you look around the world, you will see that ‘Grand Coalitions’ of Tories and Social Democrats have actually worked quite well. Germany is currently governed by such a coalition, and Austria has had its share of Grand Coalitions as well. Canada, too, would be better served if some of the seats currently held by Liberals fell to the NDP.

The Tories and NDP tend to pursue the same objectives with sometimes identical and sometimes somewhat different means. More importantly, they share their objectives with the average Canadian. The Liberals, however, define their own objectives and then try to inculcate them upon Canadians, droning on about how their goals and values are truly “Canadian” goals and values.

So, let’s have a bit more Tory, a bit more NDP and much less Liberal in our Parliament, and Canada will be better for it.