McGuinty warns federal Liberals about long road ahead
Published on Saturday, 14 January 2012 18:09 | | 
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OTTAWA — Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has some advice for federal Liberals: There is no quick route back from the brink of political oblivion.He's reminding his federal cousins that it took him seven years, and one losing election, to take the Ontario Grits from opposition to government."Choosing a new leader is no quick fix. I am living proof of that," McGuinty told a federal Liberal convention Friday evening."There are no saviours. There are no overnight successes. There is only hard work. Lots of it."That said, McGuinty boldly predicted a bright future for the shattered federal party, which was reduced to a humiliating third-party rump in last May's election. And he scoffed at the notion that Liberals must merge with the NDP if they're ever to defeat Stephen Harper's Conservatives."I believe our party's best years are in front of us. And to those who would have us merge with another party, I say: 'Get behind us. This party will move forward, with or without you."'Michael Ignatieff, who resigned as Liberal leader immediately following last spring's historic defeat, also predicted better days ahead."I didn't get there. God knows I tried," he told delegates after a short, low key tribute."But I'm telling you, you will get there."Some 3,000 federal Liberals are attending the three-day convention, debating proposals aimed at ensuring the long-term survival of their party.They will be voting today on a so-called road map to renewal, in which party brass are proposing to open up the party and modernize its structure. However, delegates have shown stiff resistance to some of the key elements of the plan.Having taken a party with only one election victory in 53 years to its credit and turned it into a three-time winner, McGuinty's experience is of more than passing interest to federal Liberals as they attempt to dig themselves out of the ditch.Indeed, some still hope McGuinty can be persuaded to take on the federal leadership, even though he has repeatedly and unequivocally ruled it out.The premier urged federal Liberals to put aside relentless leadership jockeying and focus on pulling together to rebuild the party. He called the word together "the most powerful word in the political lexicon."After his first defeat, McGuinty recalled that his provincial party modernized its structure and strengthened its riding associations. He said they also got serious about developing new ideas and policies, with little regard for what opinion polls suggested would be popular."We learned the most important question is not, 'What do the people want today?' but rather 'What will the people need tomorrow?' " he said."The first question speaks to followership, the second to leadership. People want leadership."However, there are few big, bold policy ideas being debated at the federal convention, other than young Liberal resolutions to legalize marijuana and to abolish the monarchy, neither of which appears to enjoy overwhelming support among delegates.In terms of restructuring the party, many of the proposals require the approval of two-thirds of the delegates, a threshold some of the key elements seem unlikely to achieve. Among those which have generated considerable opposition is a proposal to invite anyone willing to register as a Liberal supporter -- not just card-carrying party members -- to vote in leadership and nomination contests.There is also some reluctance to embrace the idea of holding a series of regional leadership votes, similar to the primary system used in the United States.Source: CP24
