The Next Liberal Leader

Stephane Dion officially announced that he will not continue on as leader of the Liberal Party of Canada beyond its next Leadership and Biennial Convention (likely in May 2009). With this in mind, I’ve decided to come up with a blueprint for who I think the next Liberal leader should be.*

The next Liberal leader should be able to speak both official languages fluently. Our last leader was unable to effectively express his ideas in english, and that became his Achilles’ heel. If there is no suitable candidate who can speak both, then the right candidate should speak english.

This person should have a long political background. Dion had only been in politics for a little over a decade and his riding was so solidly Liberal that he never really had to run a contested campaign. As a result, he disintegrated under the constant pounding of Conservative money and media. On the other hand, this person’s political experience doesn’t necessarily need to be in federal politics. The bottom line is this person needs to be war tested.

The next Liberal leader needs to be capable of being powerful and empathetic at any time, whenever necessary. Dion came across as a bit weak and he didn’t seem to be capable of being assertive without sounding whiney. Stephen Harper is perfectly flat. He sometimes sounds a little bit assertive and sometimes sounds a little bit empathetic, but no one can ever really tell. His demeanor is so flat he seems robotic at times. The next Liberal leader needs to be able to expose that weakness by showing a personality. A friend of mine said Canadian politics needs an injection of charisma. I agree.

Like it or not, Ontario and Quebec are still the major battlegrounds in Canadian federal politics. The next leader doesn’t necessarily need to be from either province, but must have a high profile in both. If not both, then Ontario is the more important province. It has more seats in Parliament, and Quebec can be left to the Bloc (just as long as the Conservatives don't take it). Further, Liberal support in Montreal remains strong, so Ontario plus Montreal is more likely than Quebec plus Toronto.**

The combined vote total of the Liberals and the NDP outweighs the total Conservative vote by over 800,000. The next Liberal leader needs to be slightly leftist. I’m not necessarily saying Bob Rae, with his NDP background, but, in this respect, he’s a good example of the type of person I’m talking about. By retaking a significant percentage of leftist votes, and by retaking lost votes, the Liberal Party would break the Conservative hold on power.

Finally, and most importantly, the next Liberal leader must know how to raise money. The NDP raised nearly the same amount of money as did the Liberals prior to the last election. The Liberal leader needs to be able to deliver the money required to counter the Tory ad barrage.

That’s the type of person who should be the next Liberal leader. Gender doesn’t matter. Where the person is from isn’t nearly as important as where they enjoy a high profile.

If I’ve missed anything, leave it in the comments. I need to know who to vote for should I find the money to attend the Leadership and Biennial Convention (it’s likely going to be in Vancouver, which makes it very expensive).

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* This blog post is actually the result of a spur-of-the-moment request I made of my good friend Patrick McIver in a comment on his blog.

** This may not sound like good politics, but Toronto and Montreal make up about 1/3 of Canada's population. Add scattered support in various provinces, some seats in Vancouver and Atlantic Canada, and you have a strong Liberal party.