Blogs

Just a few short weeks ago I announced my candidacy for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada at a convention to be held in early May.

Since that day our country has been through an extraordinary time:

All weekend, I'd been hearing rumors about this, but today I was really surprised to read press reports about various MPs moving for an immediate vote to elect our Leader next Wednesday, in the Commons caucus.

I thought I'd seen a lot of politics over 30 years of public service, but this one really came from left field.

With today's prorogation, we as Liberals now must carry on our fight outside of Parliament. We must continue in the hopeful and positive project of creating an alternative government of national economic unity - a project that more and more Canadians are supporting each day. Our coalition can defeat the Harper government when it returns with a Budget on January 26. We need to continue driving towards bringing down this Prime Minister, who has utterly lost the trust and confidence of Canadians, and of the House of Commons they elected. We will continue our fight for an alternative

The onslaught has begun. The Conservative Party will be flooding the airwaves in an avalanche of paid ads, right wing talk shows, and an unprecedented barrage of propaganda.

Canadians are looking to their government for leadership, for putting the country first, for a stimulus package to get the economy moving again, and instead we're getting the worst of this government, the worst of Stephen Harper's aggressive partisanship, the worst of what makes Canadians shake their heads about politics.

I was shocked and horrified to hear of today's co-ordinated attacks in Mumbai. With hostages taken, hotels under attack and other horrors, it is impossible not to be concerned about Canadians who have friends and family in Mumbai.

Arlene and I will be praying for a safe release of the hostages, and hope that the perpetrators of these horrendous acts of violence are brought to justice.

Transcript of speech given earlier today in Halifax.

Our campaign centres on making Canada more prosperous, more socially just, more environmentally sustainable.

It is also about real accountability and real democracy.

And it is about Canada finding once again its own voice and place in the world.

We are in the last week of the campaign, and Canadians are coming to judgment about their political choice.

When we consider Canada's place in the world, which party is best equipped to lead?

When I was a kid one of my favourite tv shows was Rod Serling's "The Twilight Zone"

I remember one show where the passengers in a plane come through the sky only to discover that on their flight they've gone back dramatically in time. On their first attempt at landing there are dinosaurs roaming around, on the second it looks like the nineteenth century. On their third and final attempt the pilot tells them that the best he can do is about 1940.

That show reminds me of the Harper government.

Jack Layton's decision to fight Elizabeth May and the Green Party's participation in the leader's debate might surprise some. It didn't surprise me.

For a party that once immersed itself in principle, it is admittedly a come down, but it's been clear for some time now that it is narrow self-interest and not high principle that drives "Jack Layton's NDP".

I am often asked "what is the Liberal message ?" This is my version.

The Liberal Party is about the future.

The Liberal Party is about change.

The Liberal Party is about Canada - as Laurier said , first, last, and always.

"Always" means the Liberal Party is about renewing and taking care of our country and the world.

The next campaign builds on our strong belief that we have done great things together in the past and will do them together in the future.