On anti-Liberalism

Last night, I responded on Twitter to David Akin's Lib-fueled attack on citizen engagement in the Ottawa-Vanier by-election:

Ummm, about that "anti-Liberal group" #lpc decided to whine about... https://t.co/P5EJiYTSfv #cdnpoli 1/

— Greg Fingas (@juristblog) April 2, 2017

Here's how it viewed the #lpc when it promised electoral reform, as opposed to breaking that promise: https://t.co/wgOx5ROWHl #cdnpoli 2/

— Greg Fingas (@juristblog) April 2, 2017

So #lpc position is that anybody who supported their plans, then followed up on implementation, is unacceptably partisan. #cdnpoli 3/

— Greg Fingas (@juristblog) April 2, 2017

Ladies and gentlemen, #realchange at work. #lpc #cdnpoli 4/4

— Greg Fingas (@juristblog) April 2, 2017

Let's follow up however by noting that the problem doesn't figure to be limited to electoral reform.

Activists across Canada are rightly working for the change the Libs promised, including on issues ranging from reconciliation with indigenous people to preserving a clean environment to ensuring that CEOs pay their fair share of taxes. And plenty more people care enough about other items on the Libs' long list of broken promises to want to hold Justin Trudeau to them.

A government which didn't view the very concept of opposition as a nuisance would at least acknowledge that it's legitimate for people to take action on the same issues it highlighted to get elected. But in a party built around the single principle of saying anything to take power, anybody who questions whether the Libs are living up to their promises is apparently being dumped onto a common enemies list. 

That said, if the Libs see anybody who cares about policy choices - or even the concept of honesty in government - as "anti-Liberal", then it's worth treating that phrase that as a badge of honour rather than a criticism. And anybody wanting to hold Trudeau to any of his promises had best send the message that there are electoral consequences both for breaking promises, and for trying to delegitimize issue activism.