Policy resolutions passed at this month's Liberal Party of Canada convention show a party structure and membership that want a far more authoritarian and interventionist federal government.
Abolish the free press, and other fringe policies just adopted by the Liberals | National Post - Tristin Hopper, First Reading:
May 10, 2023 - "One of the most notable items to emerge from last weekend’s Liberal Party convention was that party members voted to effectively abolish the existence of a free press. A resolution – passed without debate – said the party should 'explore options to hold online information services accountable for the veracity of material published on their platforms.'
"Party resolutions are non-binding and they’re typically more extreme than the platforms that parties will ultimately sell to voters come election time.... However, it’s notable that the Liberals are now entertaining far more extreme positions than they used to.... Now, party members are flirting with federal legislation to banish cars from cities, enact a guaranteed income and culturally remake the Prairies....
"[T]wo resolutions ... advocate ... unprecedented curbs on Canadian free speech. A resolution on 'combatting misinformation' says that the federal government should 'limit publication' of the online news media to those whose 'sources can be traced.' So, if you’re a news outlet employing anonymous sources – say, like [those] that first broke the SNC-Lavalin scandal – ... the federal government should ban you from the internet. And then there’s the 'truth in politics' resolution, which proposes the establishment of an 'independent body' that would impose 'sanctions' on political parties that it deems are not telling the truth....
"To remain 'culturally competitive' with the rest of the world, Canada should buckle down on building 'walkable and bikeable' cities. This resolution also warns that the goal is often compromised by misinformation.... As such, this resolution recommends the creation of a fund paying cities to close 'major commercial streets to car traffic'....
"[T]here is a resolution that calls for a wholesale cultural and economic restructuring of the Canadian prairies — the part of Canada that just happens to never vote Liberal. Entitled 'A Green Transition for the Prairies Provinces,' it proposes a widespread campaign of bringing 'electrified' transportation and non-oil jobs to the remote and 'alienated' peoples of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. And just in case this resolution didn’t ping absolutely every single Alberta anxiety about the Liberal Party, it makes sure to note that top-down federal controls during the COVID-19 pandemic provide a model as to how to achieve 'desirable results' in transitioning the Prairies....
"Speaking of COVID-19, delegates also favoured the creation of a kind of permanent CERB, a 'Guaranteed Liveable Basic Income.' The resolution states that such a policy would end poverty and actually cost Canada nothing because it would 'increase entrepreneurship by giving everyone the ability to take risks whilst also significantly improving health and educational outcomes'....
"Delegates want[ed] Canada to build a high-speed rail line from Windsor to Quebec City. And then, they wanted Canada to draw up an 'affordable, accessible, modern and practical rail system' to serve everywhere else in Canada that has railroad tracks. No mention is made of VIA Rail, the Crown corporation that essentially has that exact mandate, and generally just delivers money-hemorrhaging, chronically late passenger rail service....
"[A resolution to] end all ‘subsidies’ to the oil sector ... sounds fine.... But ... consider what qualifies as an 'oil and gas subsidy.' The environmental groups which popularized the term count absolutely anything that could be framed as an energy company receiving services or even abstract in-kind support from the government. In recent years, this has grown to include federal research funding to clean up oil spills, grants to transition transit buses from diesel to natural gas and even the costs of arresting activist groups who illegally blockade natural gas projects. So, under its 'Climate Crisis' resolution, the Liberal Party calls for all of this to end. The resolution also calls for all public investment funds to be forced to divest from fossil fuels."
Read more: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/wacky-policies-adopted-by-the-liberals-at-their-recent-convention
2023 Liberal Convention – Preview with party strategists | CPAC – May 4, 2023:
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