After a few hiccups (breaking down of the bus and rumours about a job at Munk Centre of University of Toronto)along the way since the beginning of his summer long Canada-wide bus tour, Mr. Michael Ignatieff arrived in Brampton at MP Gurbax Malhi’s home on Saturday afternoon. With the street packed with cars and MP Malhi’s garage and backyard full of men of various ages and a very few women, his home was recognizable from far as Liberal Express, the bus carrying Mr. Ignatieff, his wife and others, was parked right in front of MP Malhi’s home.
MP Ignatieff & his wife with MP Malhi's family
With aroma of desi food in the air and people enjoying themselves in spite of heavy rain drops that dropped from sun-filled-sky from time to time, we saw MP Rob Oliphant (Don Valley West), MP Ruby Dhalla (Brampton Springdale), MP Navdeep Bains (Brampton South), MP Andrew Kania (Brampton West) and MP Gurbax Malhhi of course, among the crowd. MP Malhi’s home seemed like a true reflection of South Asian hospitality.
The Liberal leader met with members of South Asian media in the basement of MP Malhi’s home where a broad range of topics were brought up.
Mr. Ignatieff talked about his trip to seven ridings, how he had come across Harper’s garage (Harper’s garage is a name of a garage), how he had talked to people and flipped hamburgers and engaged people by being among them.
Explaining the reason for taking the bus trip, he said, “It’s the way of showing respect; it’s the way of listening and it’s the way of getting the message across,” he said.
In response to the question by Generation Next, the leader of the official opposition said that he is the only leader who has toured colleges and universities “to get young people back in the politics.” He told us Liberal Express is full of young people. He encouraged youth to not “stand out,” but be part of the political process. He is willing to compete with any other political leader to win over youth votes.
As of now, in Toronto, NDP seems to have a stronghold in University of Toronto. NDP MP Olivia Chow’s staff is seen at almost every gathering in and around UofT. Last year, on Club’s Day at UofT, NDP had the greatest number of student supporters. Many students see NDP’s policies to be student friendly.
Could this change? With Mr. Ignatieff’s experience as a professor, can he convince the youth and get them aboard his bus? Well, we would have to see when the next election comes around. Nonetheless, MP Ignatieff will be touring this Fall to colleges and universities.
Like students’ votes, Liberal Party can work hard to win over women as well. While Ms. Sonia Gandhi, Chairman of ruling Congress Party in India and Ms. Benazir Bhutto, twice elected Prime Minister of Pakistan, are household names, women remain underrepresented in political parties of Canada. Mr. Ignatieff reveres Mrs. Gandhi and Ms. Benazir as “inspiring.” He concedes that “we gotta get more women in politics. No question about it!”
One of the issues common to youth, women, elders and citizenry in general is telephone bills. Pointing to his left pocket while sitting beside MP Malhi, Mr. Ignatieff said we all want something that’s “good on our pocketbooks.” He promised that a Liberal government would ensure “real competition” in telecom industry where telecommunication companies will have a fair play in competition. He noted that a great number of Canadians are still using dial-up internet. But this will change with the Liberal government as it will invest in building telecom infrastructure.
MP Ruby Dhalla had tabled a Bill last year that would allow seniors who have lived in Canada for as little as three years to be eligible for old age security. This Bill however, didn’t have a lot of support from Liberals. MP Ignatieff’s response to lack of Liberal support for the Bill is “Canadians are not ready to go there yet. We can go only as fast as your political party will allow you to go.” But he noted that Canada’s Pension Plan was introduced by Liberals and that it maintains rights of seniors in Canada.
Mr. Ignatieff has criticized Prime Minister Harper for “neglecting” relationship with China and India. Now that Prime Minister Harper has met with Prime Ministers Hu Jintao and Manmohan Singh, he says “I’ve just come back from China, and Chinese leaders there [in China] asked me where was Canada for three years from 2006 – 2009. Harper put that relationship [with China and India] in deep freezer…now that he [Mr. Harper] has woken up, [it’s] good for him and Canada. But we wasted three years.”
“The future of Canada depends on building relationships with India and China. If we don’t [build relationships with China and India] we won’t be able to create jobs for our kids and grandkids. It’s that simple,” he said, resolutely, in response to Generation Next’s question about ties with India and China.
As for the G-20 Summit, he held Prime Minister Harper responsible for holding G-20 Summit in Toronto, saying “the cost [of the summit] went through the roof” and the entire Summit was “badly managed.”
And Mr. Ignatieff will be back in Ontario because “I know where the votes are,” he laughs with others.
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Liberals Can Never Let Down Sikh community – Ignatieff
“When the chips’re down we’re the party of equality, we’re the party of multiculturalism, we’re the party of immigrants.”
MP Ignatieff cherishes Sikh members of Liberal Caucus, and is willing to win over even more members of Sikh community. Acknowledging Sikh community’s services and contribution to Canada for over a century, he said Liberal party has “equality right in the centre” of its values and that Liberal Party will “always keep it in the centre.”
MP Sukh Dhaliwal and MP Andrew Kania had introduced a petition in House of Commons that would have recognized the atrocities of 1984 as “genocide,” however the petition was never read.
At the time Mr. Ignatieff issued a statement “It is used here to provoke a charged, visceral response which will not bring Canadians closer to mutual understanding and closure in regard to these tragic events,” Mr. Ignatieff said in a statement, adding his party would “never stand with those who seek to polarize communities, or aggravate the tensions around long-standing conflicts that divided us in other lands.”
In response to whether this statement would alienate Sikh community with the liberal Party, Mr. Ignatieff retorted “all Canadians need to understand the tragedy that took place in 1984. We’re friends of Sikh community, and when one community is hurt, it hurt all of us.”
He noted the differences within the Sikh community about not agreeing over the catastrophic incident of 1984. “[It’s] a contested truth,” he said adding on that Canadian Sikhs need to come “to shared truth…to make a decision…as a fellow Canadian..I share the feelings” of Sikh community.
However “it’s not up to government of Canada or House of Commons” to “decide such matters,” he added.
Affectionately putting hand over MP Malhi’s back, MP Ignatieff said that MP Malhi knows that “Liberal Party can never let Sikh community down.”
He added that MP Bains is part of Liberal Party because he believes in Liberal values; Dr. Dhalla knows that “when the chips’re down we’re the party of equality, we’re the party of multiculturalism, we’re the party of immigrants.”
