Canadian Polemic

It seems that there could be a new player on the Canadian Liberal political scene, and not a moment too soon. Speculation has been rife for a while now about Michael Ignatieff's partisan possibilities, and this news article from a few weeks ago confirms it.

Mr Ignatieff is a scholar, academic and author by trade, and is currently heading up the Carr Centre for Human Rights at Harvard University. He's written a number of books about topics such as political ethics, the issue of rights, and more. Now, while he's been in the States for about three decades, he still has good Canadian connections. His father was George Ignatieff, a top Canadian diplomat during the Cold War, and he grew up in Toronto. Speculation reached fever pitch when he delivered a brilliant speech to this spring's federal Liberal convention in Ottawa. In his speech, he outlined his vision of Liberalism, and gave a Trudeauesque reminder of the "fundamentals of Liberal belief". Here's an excerpt from the speech:

As I see it, the Liberal party has three essential purposes: to protect and enhance our national unity, to preserve and defend our national sovereignty, to advance the cause of social justice.

[...]

Liberalism is also a politics of honesty. Being honest means looking ourselves in the mirror and asking tough questions. Can we really say the prosperity of the last thirty years has been equally shared? We know it hasn’t. We know there are more than a million children living in poverty in Canada. We know that these children come from the families of recent immigrants, minorities and aboriginal peoples. A Liberal doesn’t turn away from these facts. Liberals face them and do something about them.

I think that Michael Ignatieff is just what the party and the country needs to be a little reinvigorated. He's not a politician by trade, or a lawyer - he's an academic. He's a man who is paid to deal in ideas. For too long, fresh new ideas have been sorely lacking from the Canadian Liberal scene, and to have a man on the scene who wants to debate and discuss real principles and philosophies on Canada and the world will be tremendously valuable.

Will he find it easy to enter Liberal politics and shoot for the leadership spot (as he's expected to do)? No, he won't. He's an outsider, and he'll have to get adjusted to and deal with the rough and tumble of Canadian politics that folks like Maurizio Bevilacqua and Scott Brison have already figured out. And whether or not Canadians would embrace him as leader is also up in the air. But we've got to try something new after a disappointing, rudderless time under Paul Martin and Jean Chretien - we need some ideas and we need some vision. I think Michael Ignatieff's got it, and I'm glad to support him in his efforts as a Canadian Liberal.