Liberal Confusion re: Nomination Process

According to the Toronto Star and other publications, Justin Trudeau says people seeking a Liberal nomination will be subject to questioning regarding conscience issues, and if they aren't in line with party thinking, they will be excluded from running in 2015:

Trudeau says that while the Liberal party has always tried to appeal across a broad range of the political spectrum when it comes to economics, he does not believe it’s too much to ask MPs to embrace the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It is, in fact, part of the screening process for new candidates.

“We check on a number of issues: how do you feel about the Charter of Rights and freedoms, how do you feel about same-sex marriage, how do you feel about pro-choice, where are you on that?” Trudeau said.

“And we make sure that the people who are stepping forward are consistent with the Liberal Party as it is now, as it stands under my leadership and under the feedback we’re getting from Canadians across the country.”

This morning I had a twitter conversation with Gerard Butts, a close policy advisor of Trudeau's, who seemed to be unaware of this fact. He stated on Twitter that it is not what a person believes that matters, it's how they will vote on the issue in Parliament.

Although Butts has been active on Twitter since I posed the question to him (twice) about whether potential nominees could declare themselves pro-choice and still be allowed to run for nomination or serve as an MP in the Liberal Party, *crickets*.

Butts' original Tweet tagged the National  Post:

The @nationalpost has also been told, repeatedly, that the policy applies to votes in Parliament, not personal belief, but has ignored that.

So it seems clear in his opinion, that under this new Liberal edict, that a person may follow their conscience (in their private lives) so long as they are aware they must vote along party lines if it ever comes to a vote. When asked directly if that was the case, he simply ignored the question. I guess he isn't as sure as he seemed to be.

Perhaps Gerard Butts believed the question had been asked and answered, but when his position is at odds with that of the Liberal leader, the Liberal position is about as clear as mud.

Regardless, I believe abortion is a conscience, not a rights issue and that people should not have to check their brains at the door of the House of Commons. Some people do that anyway.

Canadianna

Dion prefers the status quo

It's always bothered me that Quebec didn't ratify the Constitution. It feels like the whole family is gathering for a special dinner, and one member had a major issue about what was being served and his place at the table. Instead of putting off the dinner and working out the details to suit everyone -- it was prepared and served -- rushed into, despite that person's refusal to attend.

In a family, it might be necessary to proceed without all parties, time and outside obligations playing a part -- but in a nation, regardless of how rigid a demand or how unyielding the response, the dinner shouldn't have proceeded without all parties present. What was the rush to get the constitution through right then? It was a time of social and political upheaval in Quebec, and yet those at the helm were so impatient, that they adopted a nationally defining document that left out one of the elders of Confederation.

Maybe the framers relied on the idea that the ROC would see Quebec as a whiner and dissenter. They could actually grant Quebec special status within Canada, by adopting a constitution that Quebec wouldn't endorse. Those representing Quebec must have realized that so long as they remained outside the constitution, they would always have the 'distinct' status they sought, but without the constraints of working within the same boundaries that applied to the other provinces. Whatever, but the fallout from those decisions have carried through and will continue to haunt this country until something is done to heal this festering sore.

Stéphane Dion said Sunday that the Constitution should not be re-opened because:

“My view is that we have terrible challenges in Canada regarding competitiveness. The world is tough. If we want to keep our standard of living and pass on to our children a better quality of life, we need to tackle this issue. Climate change and the environment is [also] a huge issue and none of these issues that are facing us, including social justice ... request a constitutional change to deal with.”

There are plenty of things to think about besides some stupid piece of paper that we really didn't need in the first place, but were I a politician, I would think that having all of the provinces under the constitutional umbrella would be at least as important as climate change -- given that climate change is or isn't going to happen, regardless of Kyoto and carbon credits. Shouldn't we do as St. Francis prayed -- change the things we can rather than fixating on what we can't?

The constitution is an abstract to most of us. It doesn't really come into our every day lives, but doesn't it stand to reason that if our provinces were expending less energy competing with each other for federal attention, the might actually be more competitive globally?

The national unity issue comes and goes from our minds, but it is always there, simmering. It bubbles just under the surface and it affects everything the federal government does from transfer payments to awarding contracts. It causes suspicion and jealousy amongst the provinces and throughout the populace. Who amongst us hasn't felt at some point that Ottawa was pandering to Quebec or ignoring one or more of the 'lesser' provinces?

So long as Quebec remains outside the Constitution, a separate and disctinct entity within the nation, the need for Ottawa to take a special interest will remain. Dumont has opened up the possibility of Quebec ratifying the constitution. Given that under the Liberals we acknowledged Quebec's 'distinct' status, and now under the Conservatives, we have acknowledged their 'nationhood' -- why would Dion object to putting Quebec on the same footing as the rest of Canada constitutionally?

Maybe Dion likes the idea of a Quebec that stays outside the fray, a Quebec Ottawa will have to buy, a Quebec that is slightly more important than say, Alberta or Newfoundland because of it's perpetual promise to jump ship. Maybe Dion recognizes that without the Quebec card to play somewhere down the line, the Liberal hand is a loser.