It is not something you think of and rush to write about. For some time, I have wondered if green leader MPP Mike Schreiner might be a prospect as leader of the Ontario liberals. It seems to be a good fit. There is no question that Mike needs a party to lead and the Ontario liberals need a leader who knows where he is going and can lead others.
Not that it is something for an ad hoc group of liberals need decide. The Liberal Party of Ontario exists and bears responsibility for the future of the party and its leadership. It was a group who should not have stuck their necks out that pushed Michael Ignatieff to win the federal party leadership in 2008. I had known Michael when he was a young man and excited about politics. When he came to Barrie as leader and we had a chance to chat about the years between, I realized that it was far too late in life for Michael to change course. The political spark was gone.
That said, I think Mike Schreiner has something to offer the liberals. I agree that he should consider the leadership but my warning to those pushing him is that you should never put someone on your shoulders unless the person wants to be there.
I also think the provincial party has a few good prospects in Ottawa. MP Nathanial Erskine-Smith from Toronto is a political comer and it is too bad that Justin Trudeau has not recognized that talent. Another MP, who is from a very different part of Toronto than Erskine-Smith, is MP Michael Coteau. I am convinced that Coteau would have had the liberals sitting in the government seats today in Ontario if the last leadership had not been decided behind the curtains.
And there is no doubt that there are other possible leadership candidates who can take on and defeat these awful Ford conservatives.
But they need a solvent party. They need a committed party. They need a party that can cover its monthly nut with membership fees. They need an every-member-votes leadership contest. They have to cut off membership before every cemetery in the province has been signed up. We don’t need sign-ups for this candidate or that candidate. We need everyone to decide if they are going to be there to help us win against the present government. That work should be underway now.
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Copyright 2022 © Peter Lowry
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