It is the risk of appearing academic or pedantic (book-smart) that usually precludes any discussion of what liberalism is all about. It reminds us of an old friend—a law professor who was an authority on torts law—who wanted to entitle his most recent work: Fuck Torts. He thought it might gain more attention for the otherwise dull subject. We sympathized with him but advised against it. We thought he needed to be more positive. And we need to take our own advice about liberalism.
But the concern is that liberalism is falling into disrepute these days. The major problem is people who call themselves Liberal who might be anything but liberal. One problem if you go to any so-called Liberal website today is that you will find no information there that tells you what being a Liberal means. Sending $10 to a political party does not make you a liberal.
For some time, Babel-on-the-Bay has been dismissing the leadership of the Ontario Liberal Party as an unreformed bunch of Whigs. These people seem to think they have inherited the mantle of the Family Compact that ran Ontario in the early 1800s. They have not changed much. Whigs faded out in the early 1900s after the heyday of the party under David Lloyd George in Great Britain. The successors in that country were supposed to be the Liberal Party.
One of the major problems today in defining Canadian liberalism is the Internet. It is no help. The bulk of information on the World-Wide Web is obviously not Canadian and this country has developed its own version of what is sometimes called modern, new or social liberalism. What too many of the right-wing Canadian Liberals of today forget is the Canadian Liberal Party had its roots in the reform movement of Toronto in the mid-nineteenth century. Those reformers were supported by the Clear Grit farmers of southwest Ontario and they built a country.
Along with the radical Parti Rouge of Quebec, the reformers from Upper and Lower Canada joined with like-minded citizens who became part of this new country. They supported leaders such as Laurier, Mackenzie King, Pearson and Trudeau. Liberals led this country for most of its first 140 years. Their leadership gave Canada strength, prestige, unity, pride and a deep understanding of human rights. And they gradually defined our Canadian liberalism.
The basic tenet of to-day’s new liberalism is the individual right to freedom, health care, education, shelter and sustenance and self realization (to reach for our potential) in an egalitarian society. It is not a society that expects you to climb over others to reach your objectives but a society that cares and expects you to help others along the way. It is a socially conscious society. And there is much more to be done to become the better Canada, the society this promises.
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Copyright 2013 © Peter Lowry
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