The federal Liberal leadership race made its way to North Battleford Tuesday as Deborah Coyne took her campaign to the community.
Her visit was one of a number in Saskatchewan as part of her national campaign. Coyne had visited Moose Jaw and Regina the previous day and was in Saskatoon in the morning. She stopped in the Battlefords en route to Alberta, where she planned to take her campaign to Fort McMurray this week.
While in the Battlefords Tuesday, Coyne visited the offices of the Regional Optimist and said she would be meeting local Liberals in the community as well.
Coyne said she is running an ideas-based campaign and talked at length about her vision of "one Canada for all Canadians," which is her campaign slogan.
"I'm running to get the Liberal party back to being something recognizable for Canadians and that is the party of one Canada," said Coyne.
She believes the federal government "has to play a role in a number of areas to pull us together, and not divide us." She believes the latter is happening increasingly under Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
Coyne declared her run for the Liberal leadership in July, and since then the field has become crowded. Those who've announced they are running are names such as Justin Trudeau, Marc Garneau, Martha Hall Findlay and Joyce Murray, among others.
Murray and Garneau, both members of Parliament, announced their candidacies this week. About a dozen candidates say they are running, although at the moment only Coyne and Trudeau are officially nominated.
It's a large candidate field for a party that was reduced to third place in the House of Commons in the last election and is in a major rebuilding mode nationally.
Coyne has been a longtime Liberal with a strong background in constitutional law, but admits she has not seen eye to eye with her own party at times. She said she had to stand outside her party in opposing the Meech Lake and Charlottetown accords in the Nineties, while most Liberals stood with the NDP and the Progressive Conservative in supporting those accords.
She sees parallels between that experience and now, noting that debate was about the vision of "one Canada" as well.
"I bring a lot of experience to bear about how to rebuild and how to pull Canadians together."
To promote her leadership bid, the Toronto-based Coyne has rented a car and traveled extensively across the country, having been to British Columbia and the Yukon, up north to Yellowknife, and into Alberta and Saskatchewan to "see as many Liberals as I can."
"I want to see if this feeling that we're becoming too disconnected and this feeling that we need at the national level a party that is pulling us together more resonates with Canadians. And I can tell you that it does."
Coyne believes the Liberal Party can come back if they stand for something distinctive, pointing to the "one Canada" vision she is promoting.
"The Liberal Party right now in people's minds doesn't stand for anything distinctive," said Coyne. "There is no party, not Mr. Harper nor Mr. (Thomas) Mulcair, standing up for one Canada talking about the things we need to do together."
She says some things the government needs to do include national health care standards, addressing the infrastructure deficit, overhauling employment insurance as "the majority of people who are unemployed don't even get EI or don't get the training they need," looking at all the components of the economy including breaking down the regulatory barriers between the provinces, and more.
She say the country has become "even more disconnected" under Harper, pointing out that "in health care, in science, in the environment, in infrastructure, in food safety, Mr. Harper's ideological tendency is to say the federal government doesn't have to do this, and it's over to you provinces, municipalities - he just stands back."
"I would say all of those issues resonate right now in North Battleford." said Coyne. Among her proposals are addressing health care standards, infrastructure through an Infrastructure Financing Authority, barriers to professional qualifications - "we should be taking down barriers to all provinces," she says - and the development of natural resources "based on independent science and stringent scientific standards."
Coyne says she is "getting back basically to fundamentals. What does the national government do? What do we need to do together to pull together to create a great nation that will be a significant nation internationally if we are coherent nationally?"
Coyne's stance in favour of a distinctive identity for the Liberals runs counter to talk suggesting federal Liberals and the NDP co-operate or unite under one banner. For her part, Coyne makes clear she does not want a merger with the NDP.
"Merger is not the right route to go, we have to rebuild the party," said Coyne.
She is supportive, however, to changing the electoral system from "first-past-the-post" and is open to the idea of moving towards some variation of proportional representation.
Those seeking more information about Coyne's campaign and her platform can visit her website at www.deborahcoyne.ca, where people can also submit questions to the candidate as well.
The federal Liberal party will be holding its leadership vote on April 14, 2013 and is being held to replace former leader Michael Ignatieff, who resigned following the Liberals' defeat in the 2011 election. Bob Rae is currently serving as the party's interim leader.
The format of the leadership vote is a marked departure from the delegated conventions of past years. The result will be decided by a preferential ballot to be cast by Liberals across Canada.
Voting is open not only to paid-up party members but in fact to any Liberal supporters. Anyone who declares they support the Liberal party and are not members of any other political parties in Canada can sign up and vote in the leadership contest for free, without having to pay for a membership.
Those interested in getting more information about the leadership contest can visit the Liberal party website at www.liberal.ca.
