There has been a general consensus among liberals, since the May 2 election debacle, that the party’s PR machine and recruiting mechanism need an extreme overhaul, a new vision and strategy through which the party can re-gain the attention of voters.
This new effort to recruit, remind and inform Canadians of the positive changes the liberals are creating here in Ontario and federally switched gears a little while after the extraordinary convention back in June.
Since the convention, which in itself was a new approach to democracy, the federal Liberals have re-designed liberal.ca, have initiated an aggressive member e-mailing campaign, using the best tools offered by social media, have started a recruiting boost to rejuvenate the party’s membership base, with local MP’s already reaching out to their constituents and anyone willing to listen to the liberal message.
I personally count at least thirty-five e-mails I’ve received from the Ontario Liberal party through their OLP Wire newsletter in my inbox over the past two and a half months.
Here in Kitchener, the local Liberal MP, John Milloy, also the minister of Training, Colleges & Universities in Ontario, already held a Community Progress Report event last month to reaffirm the Liberal commitment to better Ontario, to review the government’s performance over the past years and to mention the challenges a renewed Liberal government will face if it is to be elected for a third term under McGuinty.
Mr. Milloy is also holding a Campaign Office Grand opening on Saturday, August 13th, since he is running for re-election as a representative for Kitchener-center.
These efforts I feel are genuine and are not done without proper intention. The conservative choir in the country suggests otherwise, unfortunately; often saying or writing that liberal leadership in Canada is driven purely by a lust for power, prestige and position. It suggests that the Liberals have lost the common touch and can no longer reach out to the Canadian people.
Of course as a liberal, I always begged to differ and these recent poll numbers somewhat vindicate my disagreement.
How could Ontarians still maintain their support for Tim Hudak? the conservative candidate for the province, after hearing promises of cutting funding for certain health care initiatives, like the LIHN, starting up chain gangs with petty to dangerous offenders roaming our streets and doing the work that we Ontarians proudly do ourselves, publicizing the names and addresses of registered sex offenders, slashing public sector funding for green energy investment and job creation etc.
The truth is that Ontarians can’t, they can’t support a PC candidate with such a nonsensical and ideological platform. How will chain gangs be beneficial to our fair province? What good will it do to the security of our communities to publicize the names of registered sex offenders? How will we feel safer in our homes when the federal PCs are looking to cut jobs in the RCMP and Toronto police?
There is only one answer to these questions, and that is:
With the exception of a few minor tweaks in the way Ontario spends money, the Hudak conservative platform fails to envision policies that will improve the lives of Canadians across the province.
Fortunately, Canadians agree and according to the Ipsos poll they are showing their discontent with the way the Conservatives are headed with their campaign.
