The author Alan Lakein once said, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” If this is the case, then it would appear that Justin Trudeau and the Liberal Party are indeed planning to fail, with Trudeau having stated last year that the Liberal Party will not be announcing a platform until 2015, the year of the next federal election.
Trudeau has made a lot of noise about improving Canada’s middle class, but has so far been silent on how he intends to accomplish this. Even the Liberal Party website is full of wonderfully written phrases on what they believe, but no substance as to how they intend to accomplish the goals they have set for themselves.
This is a dangerous move on the part of a Liberal Party struggling to recover from its crushing defeat in the last federal election. With Tom Mulcair’s New Democrats targeting the same middle class audience, the Liberals run the risk of, once again, being left out in the cold.
It would seem that the Liberals have yet to learn an important lesson from 2011: that it is not enough to criticize the government; parties must present themselves as a clear, viable alternative. One of the reasons the Conservatives were able to gain a majority government in the last election is that the PM had a clearly defined plan, particularly with regards to the economy.
At the leaders’ debates, when asked about economic policy, all three leaders failed to present their plans for the nation, instead limiting themselves to attacking Conservative policy. When Canadians went to the polls on Election Day, they elected the Conservatives. I am willing to bet that many did so with one idea running through their heads: better the devil you know than the devil you don’t.
Better the devil you know that the devil you don’t.
It seems that the Liberal Party is banking on the Trudeau name and their leader’s relative youth (Trudeau is 42, while Mulcair is 59 and Harper is 54). These two traits act as a double-edged sword, as they have also become the main avenue of attack from both other parties.
Both Conservatives and New Democrats have commented on Mr. Trudeau’s lack of experience in the political arena. It is hard to argue against that point, with Harper having been involved in politics since the 1980’s, Mulcair since the 90’s, and Trudeau only becoming significantly involved in the 2000’s. His name could be divisive in itself, as the late Pierre Trudeau was hardly a universally liked figure, especially out West.
While they still have a lot of time leading up to the next federal election, Liberals need to start getting their ideas out there, or else they risk giving an advantage to the other parties. By the time the election rolls around in October of next year, we will have had over nine years of experience with the Conservative platform and, with Mulcair starting the campaign early, Canadians will have an extra year of exposure to NDP ideas.
While Trudeau still holds the lead in Nanos Research polls, he is losing ground to both Mulcair and Harper. If he wants to be a contender next year, the man needs to come up with a plan and get it to the people. If he fails to do so, the 2015 federal election will be a case of NDP left vs. Conservative right, with the Liberal Party again relegated to third party status.
