Liberals must retake the centre

Re Humility, empathy are key to Ontario Liberals’ rebuild, June 17 In her column on the way ahead for the Ontario Liberals, Tiffany Gooch reveals the kind of arrogance that could keep her party in the wilderness for a generation. She states that the Liberals spent “15 years sensibly building the province,” as though this were a self-evident fact that only ignorant or misguided people could take issue with.

The Liberals may have done some good things during their long reign, but there are likely few people who would agree that the fruit of their efforts constitutes “sensible building.”

The prevailing view may be closer to a legacy of reckless destruction. Consider the declining results of our expensive education system, the failure of ruinous green energy initiatives, the consequential loss of tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs, the lack of any tangible progress in health care, and the creation of the biggest sub-national debt in the world to leave as an inheritance for our children and grandchildren.

To rebuild, the Ontario Liberals will need to acknowledge they have made significant mistakes, they must retake the political centre they abandoned under Wynne, and position themselves as a moderate socially progressive but fiscally responsible alternative to the Conservatives and the NDP. If they can find the humility to do all of this they may have a future in Ontario. Jonathan Household, Niagara-on-the-Lake