Somewhere along the way we lost confidence in ourselves. The party was traumatized, frightened from leading with large arguments about economics, enterprise, technology, and finance. The less we talked about those issues, the less credibility we had in those areas, so at election time, we shunned them even more. We fell back on arguments about the social safety net. Gradually, we found ourselves boxed into a small corner, without sufficient amplitude as a party for the breakthrough we were always looking for. We became just a fragment of what a national political party should be.
Ironically, because we have no presence on economic issues, we cannot now even defend the social programs that are so important to a civilized community, witness the recent Martin budget. The Ralph Kleins and the Mike Harrises have seized the public agenda and are riding high.
We also grumbled about the impact of the media, but declined to make media a major political issue by which we could challenge their biased perspectives perspectives within which we have to fight elections. We ended up beaten before we began. We have yet to face up to the television age, 40 years after the fact.
In all this, we have lacked an effective sense of strategy. Even at the best of times, we never managed to get more than 20 per cent of the popular vote federally. Democratic socialism, nevertheless, is more appropriate than ever.
I believe we can do better, much better.
These are the skills I will apply to the task: first, creative imagination; second, a sense of strategy; and third, the broad knowledge and experience to make large arguments and sustain them in the face of opposition.
We are really engaged in changing the course of history. The right has done it in the last 15 years. Now it's our turn. If we fail to accept the challenge, we will continue to languish. If, on the other hand, we show the boldness and self confidence required, we can finally capture the public's imagination and create a Canada that is democratic socialist in a deeply felt sense.
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Herschel Hardin.
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