On the left, we have this:
[Tom Axworthy, a former aide to Pierre Trudeau,] is co-chairing a party-appointed renewal commission assigned to rethink party practices, philosophy and policy. He will submit a report to the party executive in September that reflects the work of 20 to 30 task forces, ranging from health care and immigration to faith in politics and party membership rules.
"There will be no taboos, no sacred cows," he said. "Hopefully, you won't find political correctness."
He says the work of these groups, from Internet discussion and surveys of party members, will be condensed in a report and winnowed down to "three or four thunderbolts" of advice to the party and a new leader, who will be elected at a Dec. 2-3 convention.
Thirty task forces? And for all that they'll deliver four recommendations?
Now to be fair, Daifallah and Kheiriddin built on the work of hundreds of great conservative minds in think tanks, working as bloggers, writing columns for newspapers, and so forth. But then there is that lack of ego, that notion that the best ideas just need to be sought out, understood, weighed against others, and finally selected for implementation.
You have to realize that you don't have to re-invent the wheel:
[Axworthy is] asking Liberals from the rival camps of former prime ministers Jean Chretien and Paul Martin to work together on the task forces with Trudeau-era "greybeards" and young people who are not identified with any faction.
Why is it that these professional political players have the answers? The government has been funding left-wing think tanks like the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives for years (the CCPA get hundreds of thousands of dollars each year, for example). Why all that money if not to develop ideas to be used in a situation like this?
What the heck has my money been buying?
Can this process create a quality product, with so many people working so quickly?
He concedes it's a bit of a rush job, as many in the party will soon be consumed by the leadership race.
So the real leaders in the party are going to be busy trying to become the leader.
But then doesn't a massive glob of people like this need to be led but a person with vision?
Is Axworthy a man on a mission, with a goal in mind and leading the charge?
Not so much.
His fellow co-chairs are Bobbi Ethier, past-president of the Manitoba branch of the federal Liberals, Marva Wisdom, chairwoman of the party's policy development committee, and Quebec MP Lucienne Robillard, deputy Liberal leader.
Big government in action. Everything by committee. A place the table for every interest group, even if it means making the table so big you can't see the other end. Led by another committee instead of a leader, perhaps to best ensure that blame is distributed if things go badly.
The funny thing is that when they get their three or four ideas, they'll deliver it to the party executive, who will deliver it to the leader who will be chosen without having had these ideas, and who will in turn declare that this is the platform he will use to lead the party.
And the Liberal Party members will clap and cheer now that they've been told what to do and what to believe in.
