Where’s the bold vision?
An end to public funding for Catholic education. Increased access to abortion clinics. Affirming that Ontario values diversity.
These, along with big-ticket items like free transit and a minimum basic income for everyone, are among the ideas raised by the people looking to be the next leader of the Ontario Liberal Party.
Much of it feels like opposition antics, a search for wedge issues or expensive promises by people who don’t think they’ll have to deliver on them anytime soon. It’s a disappointing beginning. Clearly, Doug Ford’s Progressive Conservative government has been a disaster for Ontario. They’ve made a mess of everything they’ve touched and, with the speed they’re backing off their own plans, even they seem to know it.
But if the Liberals want voters to consider them a viable alternative just 2 1⁄2 years from now, they need to start presenting a clearly articulated vision of what a better future for Ontario looks like.
The offerings out of the leadership campaign so far are a long way below that bar. The candidates need to step it up — and soon. Barring any last minute entrants (the cutoff is Nov. 25), there are five of them: Michael Coteau and Mitzie Hunter, who are current MPPs and former cabinet ministers; Steven Del Duca, a former minister who lost his seat in the 2018 election; and Kate Graham and Alvin Tedjo, who ran in 2018 but were not elected.
None of them has much of a public profile. It’s little wonder that at least a few people once hoped astronaut Chris Hadfield would decide politics is what comes after space travel or that Toronto Mayor John Tory — a former PC leader, no less — might jump into the ring.
But, given the task ahead for whoever gets elected leader at the delegated convention set for next March 6-7, perhaps it’s a surprise there are even five people who want the job.
The next Ontario Liberal leader needs to regain the faith of voters; round up quality candidates in almost every single riding across the province; rebuild the party’s badly depleted coffers; and reinvigorate volunteers.
It’s a lot to take on. It’s not without reason that the PCs mock the Liberals, who now have just five seats in Ontario’s 124-seat legislature, as the “mini-van party.”
It’s possible the candidates see their first priority as focusing on efforts to sign up members in preparation for the convention. (Liberal supporters have until Dec. 2 to become party members and have a say in choosing the next leader.)
But that doesn’t leave much time before March to ramp up the policies that will determine who lives up to the billing of being a bold leader with an inspiring vision, something they pretty much all claim to be.
And as badly as the Ford government has stumbled, the PCs still won’t be easy to beat.
They’ve halted the cronyism scandal, parted ways with Ford’s divisive former chief of staff, and given more prominence to the more reasonable faces of the Ontario PCs, such as Rod Phillips and Christine Elliott.
If any of the Liberal hopefuls thought the PCs would just collapse and they could ride to the rescue up easy street, that’s not going to happen. They’re going to more formidable than that. But there is certainly an opening here. The New Democrats have been doing what they can to hold the Ford government to account in the legislature, but they’re not gaining much traction.
Opinion polls have shown support for the provincial Liberals rebounding since the 2018 election that left them decimated and without official party status. At this point, though, that’s more a sign of Ford’s plummeting personal popularity than a true reconsideration of the Liberals.
But the door is open to the Liberals again, and the party needs to give voters a good reason to walk through. That’s the all-important job of the next leader. Doug Ford’s vision of Ontario is nostalgic and simplistic. The Liberals need to articulate a vision that positions the province for today’s realities and what’s coming in the future.
Amid the wedge issues, vehement criticisms of Ford and a preponderance of overarching statements about being bold leaders, there are hints of forward thinking among the leadership candidates.
Modern workplace protections, better education and child care, expanding pharmacare, business and technological innovation, stronger environmental measures, a new deal for municipalities — all are worthy of more attention.
Ontarians need to hear more from the candidates about how their ideas fit together and add up to a compelling Liberal agenda. They must tell us in a lot more detail how they intend to support the longstanding Liberal goals of social equity and supporting business to create more prosperity for all.
They shouldn’t waste any time or, worse still, think that just not being Doug Ford will be enough.
If the Liberals want voters to consider them a viable alternative 2 1⁄2 years from now, they need to present a clearly articulated vision of what a better future for Ontario looks like