Federal Liberals deliver a roadmap that is mere fantasy

Last week, in the interest of fairness, we had a look at some of the more far-fetched policy ideas going into the federal NDP convention. It was only fair, after there had been considerable attention paid by the media to far-fetched policies pitched by the Conservative fringe at the federal Conservative Party of Canada policy-fest.

Well, now it’s the federal Liberals’ turn.

They had their policy convention this past weekend and, since they are currently the government, it’s worthwhile looking at what the party wound up supporting. But not necessarily because of what they supported — it’s what that package means.

Why? Because it was the Liberal policy convention, the Christmas-wish-book, chicken-in-everypot pre-election edition, and the most significant thing about it is not what’s going to get done, but how the Liberals believe their policies prime the pump for a federal election.

We’ll take the top 15 in descending order (keeping in mind there’s a little repetition involved — for goodness, sake, don’t try to read them all out loud in one breath, because you might pass out). There’s implementation of national pharmacare for all (we’ve heard that before); a universal basic income for Canadians; new standards for long-term care, a commitment to high-speed rail; a Canadian basic income (again); ending racism in Canada’s policing, justice and correctional system; a green new deal; gender violence prevention at post-secondary institutions; a green economic recovery (redux); a post-pandemic economy (re-redux); Canada as an agricultural and agri-food superpower; improvements to internet infrastructure; “more money in the pockets of seniors”; affordable rental housing for vulnerable seniors; and “No worker left behind” in the transition to a lowcarbon economy.

Truth is, even though the Liberals are the federal government, don’t look for any of those policies to be delivered on in any concrete way during the current mandate. Don’t look for successful legislation to make its way through the House of Commons, don’t look for carefully mapped-out budget appropriations to pay for the policies, and to put it bluntly, don’t expect to get your basic income cheque anytime soon.

In fact, don’t actually look for anything more than the convention already delivered — which is a fantasy roadmap to a magical land that doesn’t yet exist. It’s also a land that may never exist.

At this point, with the NDP stagnant and the Conservatives floundering in the polls, it’s clear the Liberals are just looking for a reason to call an election.

While the Conservatives and the NDP just spent policy conventions wrangling about the directions their parties would take in the future, the Liberals were clearly lobbing an easy softball to any voter willing to step up and take a swing for the fences. There’s fiction, non-fiction and science fiction. Oh, and there’s political fiction. The Liberals wrote some on the weekend.