Liberal Leader Michael Ignatieff speaks to reporters in the foyer of the House of Commons on Monday, Feb. 8, 2010.
Crickets continue to chirp in the House of Commons chamber. But elsewhere in the prorogued parliamentary precinct, there is activity, with some help from Michael Ignatieff and the federal Liberal Party. In the absence of Question Period, Mr. Ignatieff has used the time to formulate some worthwhile policy proposals. It's a welcome sign of maturation from a leader and a party that, for most of 2009, seemed focused on only short-term political calculations.
These proposals are set out in an eight-page letter Mr. Ignatieff sent to Stephen Harper this week. He describes a wide-ranging policy agenda he wants the Prime Minister to adopt, including more restitution for the victims of white-collar crime, a reconvening of the Special Committee on Afghanistan and revision of pay-equity legislation. Given a minority government and the desire of both major parties to delay a general election, some of the letter's ideas could actually end up as law or government policy.
Other issues raised by Mr. Ignatieff may not occupy a regular spot on the Prime Minister's briefing schedule, but demand his attention nonetheless: the national shame of missing aboriginal women (223 killed or missing since 2000) and the need for a national neurological strategy.
It wasn't all demands, though. In the past four weeks, Mr. Ignatieff ran a sort of seminar series, 24 public hearings on some of the country's biggest problems. Many were on topics that once took centre stage but have passed into the wings: medical isotopes, the independence of arms-length government agencies, and aviation security. That the Liberals have returned to these issues shows that they are trying harder to delve into the messy work of governing.
The Liberals also developed two new proposals during their involuntary parliamentary break, on economic growth and parliamentary democracy itself. Combine those with recent proposals around pensions and renewable energy, and the Liberals are starting to develop a coherent alternative to the Conservatives. A bigger push is still to come, with a three-day policy conference in March that ought to give some further clarity and shape to a Liberal electoral platform.
But Mr. Ignatieff still has much work to do. These disparate elements must be woven into an overarching narrative of what 21st-century Liberalism stands for, taking into account the country's fiscal problems. And some of Mr. Ignatieff's political naiveté persists; he could have extracted from the Conservatives a commitment to pass his anti-prorogation proposal before assenting to their request (which needed all-party support) to cancel two weeks of planned parliamentary breaks.
The Conservatives have offered relatively few new domestic policy initiatives of late. Much of the work of defining Conservatism will go into their March Throne Speech and budget. In the meantime, Canadians wondering what Michael Ignatieff stands for can find answers to some of their questions.