Tag: canadian politics

John Ibbitson predicts a bleak outcome for future of the Canadian Liberal party. “Everything is going to polarize between the left and the right,” The Globe and Mail's Ottawa Bureau Chief said in an interview with Lavin. “The center isn't there anymore.”

The Big Shift author has argued that this is true of all Canadian life; that despite the country's reputation for being consensual, enormous power shifts are causing a massive polarization on all levels. There's no longer any room, he says, for a management party to exist in the middle of left and right-winged decision making. “Will [the Liberals] die?” he asks, “I don't know [but] the odds are good.” He explains that the Liberals are losing power in much of the country, with only a select few neighborhoods still strongly supporting the party.  

“They have to reinvent themselves in terms of connecting to the country in a way they haven't connected to it in a very long time,” says Ibbitson. In order to survive, the party has to regain control of the suburbs and the West. “You can't have a functioning political party that's based only in regions of decline,” Ibbitson says, echoing his argument that Canada's power base has now completely shifted to the West. Ibbitson has years of experience writing about and analyzing both the Canadian and American political landscape, and is capable of providing a fresh perspective on the future that is rivaled by few other political analysts. In his acclaimed speech “The Collapse of the Laurentian Consensus”, which he gave last year, Ibbitson explores the drastically changing political and social climate in Canada. Ibbitson gives objective and tailored talks on the most up-to-date issues, while also presenting insightful projections on the future.