Dirty Hands

Asked to make some observations about party renewal at a recent Liberal forum, I made the following suggestions:Liberals need to make some strong networks with other community organizations, like Rotary, environmental and anti-poverty groups, etc. The difficulty as I see it is that all of these associations are "cause" oriented. While they may admit to the importance of politics, they are nevertheless ambivalent on political parties. This makes sense to me, since parties, including the Liberal Party, lost touch with community causes years ago. The party's president, Doug Ferguson, has called on Liberals to roll up their sleeves and get involved in community causes as a means of showing we are actually interested in the causes themselves and not just how they might draw support to the Liberal Party. I agree.  It's an interesting dichotomy to me.I know a lot of Liberals who sit on many boards, volunteer for the Salvation Army or the Food Bank, work in organizations for a greener planet, but who in the end experience great difficulty making the link between the cause and the Liberal Party. I don't think this is an accident. We were in power for a lot of years as a party but it's my sense that we moved away from grassroots causes years ago - leaving us dependent on a divided opposition and a steady flow of corporate funds to maintain our strength. It wasn't destined to last. Nor should it have. We either believe in these causes or we don't, and the best way to convince our communities of that is through our own participation in their various needs and causes. Policy is not the same as people. We can talk about the poor, policy around the needs of our planet, etc., but the average citizen won't find that attractive unless we actually "live out" that policy.The longer you are in politics, the less you actually become a participant in your community and the more you observe it. Policy and recruitment won't be worth much because most people don't think that way and are dubious about politics anyway. Our last election saw us with some of the best policies we have had in years and we were badly beaten. Policy is only one-third of the secret to recruitment - people and participation are the more important ingredients.We need to acknowledge again and again that the only way to renew our party is to recapture its soul. We were once a party made up of activists but those days are largely behind us. I see no point in signing up people to the party as a means to gain some funds. Rather, we need to be signed up by them as participants in community life. Then, and only then, will they see Liberals as relevant.Push us as MPs, remind us that our strength isn't just policy but people empowerment, and no amount of money can replace that. Push us to be better. In the process, we'll be more observant and can perhaps recruit candidates that actually have dirty hands from caring for people. Let's just remember that having a new and powerful leader is never enough for us as Liberals. We want power, sure, but only so that we can help those in our midst. Once we catch that spirit, we're on our way.