Liberal leader Stéphane Dion said the Liberals need to be ready for a possible federal election in the
near future.
“I don’t know when the next election will be. It may be in the coming weeks, it may be in the coming years,” he said. “That means we have to be ready for it to happen in the coming weeks.” Dion spoke at the Ontario Young Liberals’ Annual General Meeting at the Kingston Days Inn.
Dion called on the members of the Ontario Young Liberals to stand up to the present Conservative-led government.
“Now is the time to show Canadians that we have a Liberal party that will prove Prime Minister Harper is taking our country in the wrong direction. But this will not be possible if young Liberals are not fully committed and prepared. Our policies are ready, and we need to be, as well.”
Dion said he wants to make young people more actively engaged in the Liberal party. “I have myself made some commitments and am pleased to go further with that. … We need a university of young Liberals,” he said. “I will commit to at least one in-person meeting each year with the [Canadian Young Liberals] executive—call the meeting, I’m ready. “We will have a strong platform for the youth of Canada at the next election.” When a student in the audience asked Dion about post-secondary tuition, he said he’s in favour of universally affordable education. “In order to create a richer Canada, a more generous Canada and a greener Canada, we have to have a Prime Minister-in-waiting who can give young Canadians strong universities and tuition fees they will be able to afford,” he said. “For Canada to succeed, all of us must be able to afford to go to university.”
Dion said the government has cut millions of dollars from environmental initiatives while making it appear that they are simply pursuing a shorter-term environmentalist agenda.
“The Conservatives changed the names of the [environmental] programs so they could say they were getting things done when they were in fact accomplishing nothing,” he said. “When there is a government that is unable to understand that their commitment to Kyoto is a commitment to the world, it is very dangerous for our country when we have a government that only thinks in the short term.”
Dion, who served as environment minister under former Prime Minister Paul Martin, said the best way to push an environmentalist agenda while promoting economic progress is to modernize the Canadian
automotive industry.
Marilla McCargar, Artsci ’07 and president of the Queen’s Liberal Association, said she thinks there will be a spring election. “The Conservatives and their supporters are like a dog salivating at a treat over what they could do with a majority government,” she said. “They are expecting to get a momentous leap and that all of a sudden they are going to do so well, which I don’t think is in touch with the reality of the situation.” Prior to last year’s Liberal Leadership Convention, McCargar was deputy director of the Michael Ignatieff Ontario Youth Campaign.
McCargar said she believes Dion has united the Liberal Party and just needs a little more time to convince the rest of Canadians that he’s a competent and qualified leader. “I’m not going to say that I wasn’t a little disappointed [the night Dion was elected], but I’m very happy with Dion’s performance so far.”
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