By Pepper Parr
February 4th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
A group of about 40 people who belonged to the Liberal party , sent a letter to Mike Schreiner, Green Party member of the Legislature inviting him to run for the leadership of the Liberal party that is now down to eight members sitting in the Legislature.
Mike Schreiner on the campaign trail
Schreiner at first said he had not seen the letter and later said that he needed some time before accepting the invitation. He wanted to talk to his party members. Oh to be a fly on the wall where those conversations took place.
The provincial Greens and Liberals are now in a state of excited frenzy: the Greens are saying if you want Mike as your leader join us.
The Liberals are saying that there are more things that both parties agree on than they disagree on and that the province would be a better place if they had a leader like Mike who would attract the voters the Liberals badly need.
There are some that claim sending a letter to Schreiner dissed the four people who have already declared themselves as leadership candidates that will run for the Liberal leadership.
The Liberals, both federally and provincially have always poached the best that the socialists had and are now quite prepared to do the same thing to the Greens.
Jagmeet Singh, federal New Democrat leader, is keeping the Liberals in office and at the same time getting new programs for Canadians that the Liberals talk about but never quite deliver on.
Back in 1970 Pauline Jewett, a federal Liberal until Pierre Trudeau brought in the War Measures Act became a New Democrat that the Liberals always hoped they could coax back into the party. They didn’t know the real Pauline Jewett; a woman of strong views and stronger convictions. Not the first feminist the country has seen but a woman who made a real and lasting difference.
Doug Fisher, an MP for eight years who went on to become a celebrated journalist and columnist for the Toronto Telegram and then the Toronto Sun, knew more about Canadian politics than many other members of the House of Commons. He was always near or part of conversations about merging the New Democrats with the Liberals federally.
“I chose to lead the Green Party of Ontario because we do politics differently. We are committed to honesty, integrity and making decisions that put people first.”
Didn’t happen back then and probably won’t happen with the Greens either. Because politics is and always will be about power and what you can do with it – the provincial Liberals might convince themselves that Mike is their man. What the Liberal party approach to government would do to the heart and soul of Mike Schreiner is an interesting question.
The Greens love him – they should, he is the only person who managed to win an election as a Green candidate. Some members of the Green party have said they would hate to lose Mike but if he runs as a Liberal and loses – they will take him back as a Green. That is certainly showing the love.
The provincial Liberals meet in Hamilton early in March for their AGM – that’s when they will set out the date and rules for choosing the next leader. If Mike runs it may well be a coronation – recall what happened to John Turner when he returned to politics.
Schreiner once said: “I chose to lead the Green Party of Ontario because we do politics differently. We are committed to honesty, integrity and making decisions that put people first.”
Had do you decide to run for the Liberal leadership and walk back a statement like that?
Salt with Pepper is the musings, reflections and opinions of the publisher of the Burlington Gazette, an online newspaper that was formed in 2010 and is a member of the National Newsmedia Council.
A truly bone-headed decision by this group of 40 elitists if ever there was one. Actions like this just play directly into the narrative that there is no credible alternative to Doug Ford.
The Liberals have enough credible candidates within their federal and provincial caucuses (e.g. Naqvi, Erskine-Smith, Shamji). They don’t need to go trolling for candidates by appealing to a fourth party leader whose party is going nowhere fast.
Mike S is a one trick pony.
Job 1 would be to beat Marit Stiles, and the NDP party. Mike should think this through. Was it the leaders (McGuinty and Wynne) who lead the Liberal party to mini-van status? Was it their policies? Was it a combination of the two? Parties don’t win elections, incumbnets lose elections.