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OLD-TIMERS’ DAY: WHAT GRITS CAN LEARN FROM HALL-OF- FAMER ALLAN J. MACEACHEN

Thomas S. Axworthy

Following its shattering defeat in May 2011, the Liberal Party held a convention in the New Year that it hopes will start it on the road to recovery. The convention was preceded by a night honouring Allan J. MacEachen, who is at 90 the “grand old man” of progressive liberalism. But the main result of the convention was the adoption of a US-style primary system to select future leaders, an innovation that is the opposite of the Liberal Party traditions represented by MacEachen.

Dans l’espoir de se rétablir après son écrasante défaite électorale de mai 2011, le Parti libéral a tenu en début d’année son congrès biennal, l’inaugurant par un hommage à Allan J. MacEachen, qui, à 90 ans, fait figure de « vieux sage » du libéralisme progressiste. Mais le congrès a surtout été marqué par l’adoption d’un système de primaires à l’américaine permettant de désigner ses prochains chefs, une nouveauté en totale contradiction avec la tradition libérale incarnée par M. MacEachen.

t the Liberal Party convention in Ottawa in January, secretary of Pierre Trudeau, and Monique Begin, his former there were some shoots of optimism amid the weeds cabinet colleague. A of despair that have taken root in the party since its Having the great and good of the Liberal Party turn out catastrophic defeat in May 2011. The delegates were somber for MacEachen on the eve of the convention was a bit like — rightly so given that the once great Liberal Party has fall- Old-Timers’ Day at Yankee Stadium. The Liberal equivalents of en to third place — but cautiously optimistic because the the Reggie Jacksons, Whitey Fords and Yogi Berras reminded NDP leadership contest had failed to attract much interest. the current crowd of past glories and perhaps had a trick or The Liberals tried valiantly to project a forward-looking two to show today’s Liberal caucus on how it was once done. image: one-third of the 3,300 delegates were under 30 and Allan J. MacEachen was a worthy subject of such acco- the party passed a Young Liberal motion to legalize and reg- lades because he was the most significant cabinet minister ulate marijuana use. Don Tapscott, a technology guru with of the postwar era. Beginning his political involvement with no history in the party, was given a prized keynote guest the Liberal Party in 1949, MacEachen first went to Ottawa as slot. The incantation of being relevant to the needs of the a member of Parliament in 1953, at the height of the Liberal 21st century was repeated mantra-like by almost every ascendancy. Starting out in the era of train travel, when the speaker as if to dispel painful memories of the recent past. House of Commons was a part-time gentleman’s club, he But despite the shiny 21st century Liberal Party on dis- remained a political force into the era of the Internet, 24- play at the new Ottawa Convention Centre, many of the hour news cycle and the permanent campaign. During this delegates still cheered for the All-Star teams of the past. half century in politics, he was a party volunteer; MP; a sen- Nowhere was this most evident than on the Thursday ior adviser to Opposition Leader Lester Pearson; minister of evening event that preceded the formal opening of the labour, national health and welfare, manpower and immi- convention. There, on January 12, Liberals met to honour gration, external affairs, finance; President of the Privy one of the great figures of their past — 90-year-old Allan J. Council; Deputy Prime Minister; leadership candidate MacEachen. Former prime ministers John Turner and Paul (1968); and Senator. Martin were in attendance, as were former premiers like As leader of the Liberal Opposition in the Senate from Frank McKenna, former leaders like Stéphane Dion and 1984 to 1991, he led epic parliamentary battles against the the current leader, Bob Rae. In abundance were cabinet Canada-US Free Trade Agreement and the Goods and ministers of the Pearson, Trudeau and Chrétien eras. Service Tax. For 50 years, Allan MacEachen was a leader of MacEachen was lauded by Jim Coutts, former principal the liberal wing of the Liberal Party.

32 OPTIONS POLITIQUES MARS 2012 Old-Timers’ Day: What Grits can learn from hall-of-famer Allan J. MacEachen

ike many Nova Scotians of the policy calculations. John Crosbie, in Henry III to add representatives from L 1920s and 1930s, MacEachen loves his memoirs, called MacEachen “the the boroughs and shires to the Great baseball and would spend hours talk- Celtic Sphinx.” But invariably, some- Council, or at least to 1758, when ing about the game with his aide, the time weeks later, in cabinet or the Nova Scotia had the first election in late Jerry Yanover. One of the truisms House, the Sphinx would reflect vol- Canada for a legislative assembly. of the game is that the prospects of a ubly, and there would be a well- For others, Parliament is a curious team can be gauged by its strengths up thought-out way forward, based in inefficient relic with archaic rules and traditions — more a theatre The Liberals tried valiantly to project a forward-looking image: than a bulwark of our liber- one-third of the 3,300 delegates were under 30 and the party ties. MacEachen was Leader of the House three times passed a Young Liberal motion to legalize and regulate (May 1967 to April 1968, marijuana use. Don Tapscott, a technology guru with no September 1970 to May history in the party, was given a prized keynote guest slot. 1974 and September 1976 to March 1979). To succeed the middle — pitcher, catcher, second part on the data received. MacEachen in that job, one must combine an baseman and centre fielder. So, too, could not be rushed; he liked to think abundance of emotional intelligence with governments: cabinets start with a things through himself. His mastery of with technical mastery of rules. The core of four or five senior ministers and the House is well known and discussed mood of the House of Commons can then, hopefully, expand their talent below. But his greatest political skill, in change within minutes: a placid House base outward. my estimation, was his genius for tim- contentedly dispensing business can, Pierre Trudeau certainly appreciat- ing — MacEachen knew when to delay with a single quip or question, occa- ed the talent of Allan J. In forming his (as when he tried to prevent a vote on sion a reply that creates a squall, which governments from 1968 to 1984, Allan third reading of Mitchell Sharp’s 1968 turns into a storm. Managing an J. was always among that core, along budget) and he knew when to move assembly with 300 egos, competing with Jean Chrétien and Marc Lalonde. (as when he urged the Liberal caucus interests and continual jockeying for Trudeau always began with these to defeat John Crosbie’s 1979 budget). media attention requires patience, three, and then built on that base. On the great issues of the 1968 to 1984 empathy and an ability to laugh at the When I became principal secretary to era, Prime Minister Trudeau and cabi- human parade. MacEachen had all the Prime Minister in 1981, one of my net would wait patiently until Allan J. these virtues. He was like a great polit- jobs was to brief these three ministers was finally ready to give his advice. ical bloodhound, sniffing the parlia- on the latest public opinion surveys so “MacEachen was certainly a character I mentary air, detecting the changing that they could help Trudeau chart the liked,” wrote Trudeau. “In part because currents and nimbly setting off in a political water. Their responses to he was unpredictable.” new direction with the parliamentary these briefings were instructive; pack baying at his heels. Chrétien would listen for a minute, llan J. MacEachen loved and then jump in with his own analy- A Parliament and was an expert on uch gifts are rare. With his great sis, coast to coast. Invariably his intu- the rules and procedures of the institu- S intelligence, Trudeau could have ition was as sure as our costly survey tion. This expertise came to full fruition been a success in a number of min- techniques: I never met a better intu- during the Trudeau era. Colleagues like istries, but never as House Leader. He itive politician in assessing public Keith Davey called him “the greatest lacked empathy and thus was never a opinion. Lalonde would listen, then House leader I have ever seen in House of Commons man. MacEachen, immediately begin to plan a action.” Opponents like Pat Carney on the other hand, could prolong a policy/political response to the prob- called him “a master of parliamentary minority parliament, wringing from it lems. Lalonde was action-oriented and obstruction.” Either way, he was a dom- significant legislation; in 1972 to 1974, executive-centred. MacEachen was dif- inating parliamentary presence. for example, the Liberal minority gov- ferent from his two colleagues; always Many men and women have ernment had only two more members polite, he would take it all in, some- served in Parliament, but few become than the Conservatives — making our times ask a question, but just as often House of Commons devotees. For recent minority parliaments look like a would look away and contemplate. His some like Allan J., Stanley Knowles, picnic in comparison. Skillfully, silences were as eloquent as most John Diefenbaker, John Turner and Joe MacEachen prolonged Parliament and politicians’ ramblings. Clark, there is majesty to Parliament, gained time for Trudeau to rekindle his This was unnerving at first, but I an institution that goes back to 1265, popularity with the voters. MacEachen soon learned that MacEachen was when Simon de Montfort initiated the also knew how to defeat his own gov- going through his own political and first British Parliament by persuading ernment when the time was right. In

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1974, it was MacEachen, Trudeau and John Turner at a meeting at Le Cercle Universitaire in Ottawa who devised a budget compelling enough to win an election but artful enough to ensure a defeat at the hands of the NDP, so that the Liberal government could not be blamed for going to the people precip- itously. Then in 1979, MacEachen’s job was not to defend or defeat his own government, but instead to bring down the Conservative minority gov- ernment, and he was the leading actor of the parliamentary drama of 1979-80 that saw the defeat of Joe Clark and the return of Trudeau. MacEachen’s brilliance as House Leader was so evident, in fact, that it sometimes throttled his other ambi- tions. In 1974, to the surprise of many, MacEachen was appointed minister of external affairs after four long years as House Leader. At St. Francis Xavier University, MacEachen was influenced by his long association with Father Moses Coady and the Antigonish Movement, whose development mis- sion spread education throughout Europe, Asia and Latin America. It should come as no surprise that Allan J., as external affairs minister, attempted to negotiate a more just division of wealth between the north and the south in the 1970s. MacEachen was chosen to be the co-chair of the Conference on Economic International Co-operation, along with the foreign minister of Venezuela. This negotiating forum was the centrepiece of the north-south dialogue. But by 1976, the political fortunes of the Trudeau gov- ernment were waning. The PM was gearing up for a major constitutional initiative and needed his parliamentary master beside him. MacEachen was

asked to return to his old specialty of Photo: Greg Kolz House Leader and give up the external Interim Liberal Leader Bob Rae with Allan J. MacEachen, now 90, at his tribute on the affairs portfolio he loved. Loyally, he opening night of the Liberal Party convention. Tom Axworthy writes that the turnout did so but his anger was palpable at the for MacEachen “was a bit like Old-Timers’ Day at Yankee Stadium.” cabinet’s swearing-in. To continue with the baseball wanted to be a starter too, to direct supported this natural desire, the metaphor, MacEachen was a great the great ministries of state rather prime minister had several potential relief pitcher who saved the parlia- than merely mop up the parliamen- starters and only one relief specialist. mentary game for Pierre Trudeau on tary business of other ministers. When troubles began to multiply in numerous occasions. Yet MacEachen Although Trudeau understood and 1976, the manager asked his star

34 OPTIONS POLITIQUES MARS 2012 Old-Timers’ Day: What Grits can learn from hall-of-famer Allan J. MacEachen starter to return to the bull pen, and member of the Planning and Priorities candidate or for those outside the con- as a Liberal team player, MacEachen Committee at the time and records in stituency to determine the outcome. reluctantly did so. To a Liberal Party his memoirs that initially, he was dis- Years later, when MacEachen was that has torn itself apart by personal mayed by MacEachen’s stand. Yet in the senior minister from Nova Scotia vendettas in recent years, retrospect, he wrote, “I have to in the Trudeau government, it was MacEachen’s loyalty to the team acknowledge now that MacEachen’s similarly unthinkable that the Prime should be a salutary lesson. democratic instincts were perhaps Minister’s Office would make decisions MacEachen’s commitment to right in the long run.” concerning Atlantic Canada without Parliament, however, went beyond The Conservatives’ filibuster gave first consulting Allan J. Like the partisan advantage. He had a tremen- time for the Supreme Court to make a decline of Parliament, the decline of dous devotion to the institution. This ruling. That ruling, in turn, forced a the party has accelerated since was demonstrated in a particularly final federal-provincial conference in MacEachen’s retirement: the 2012 con- striking way in the constitutional November 1981, and the eventual vention, for example, further diluted debate of 1980-81. The government’s compromise between the PM on the the role of the party member. constitutional bill went to Parliament issue resulted in the easy final passage MacEachen’s respect for the tradi- in the fall of 1980 and optimists were of the Bill in the Canadian and British tions of the Liberal Party were impor- hoping that both the Canadian and parliaments. As MacGuigan concludes, tant when he succeeded in persuading British Parliament would pass the bill “No doubt, MacEachen saw a the Liberal caucus and national execu- in time to have the British tive to request Pierre Trudeau to North American Act repatriated lead the party into the 1980 by July 1, 1981. The mood of the House of election. Pierre Trudeau’s amaz- But as debate in Parliament Commons can change within ing return was due to two men dragged on, an option that began minutes: a placid House contentedly — Allan J. MacEachen and Jim to gain traction among Trudeau’s Coutts. To the cynical-minded, advisers was to use time alloca- dispensing business can, with a Trudeau’s decision to return as tion or closure to force a parlia- single quip or question, occasion a party leader after the defeat of mentary vote on the measure. In reply that creates a squall, which the Conservatives on December December 1980, at the Planning turns into a storm. Managing an 13, 1979, may look like a well- and Priorities Committee of cabi- organized plot. But I can attest net, MacEachen opposed a plan assembly with 300 egos, competing that Trudeau’s eventual deci- to impose time constraints on interests and continual jockeying for sion to contest the 1980 elec- parliamentary debate and said he media attention requires patience, tion was far from assured. The felt so strongly about this that he empathy and an ability to laugh at night of his decision, Jim would resign if the issue were Coutts asked me to prepare two pressed. Trudeau dropped the the human parade. speeches — one if Trudeau option of time allocation, then declined the honour, and a and there. Commons reconciled to the resolu- longer one if he decided to lead the tion, or at least to the process by which party in the next campaign. Only as ithout the threat of parliamen- it was arrived at, as a happy harbinger Trudeau began to read the longer W tary closure, the Conservatives of consensus across the country. speech the next morning at the tele- debated the bill at will, and their fili- Ultimately, he proved to be a good vised press conference did I know what bustering eventually led to agreement prophet.” decision he had made. that the bill would not come to a vote I have mentioned MacEachen’s until after the Supreme Court decided f Parliament was one love of political virtues of intelligence, timing on the legality of the issue (which they I MacEachen’s, so too was the Liberal and empathy. When aroused, he is also did in the fall of 1981). Any July 1 Party. The Liberal Party of his era in eloquent. He does not gossip or chatter schedule went out the window. Inverness-Richmond was a self-confi- incessantly. He takes things in, rather MacEachen felt that the repatriation of dent, independent volunteer party, than emoting. But as Barney Danson, the Constitution was one of the most where delegates of his 1949 nomina- his cabinet colleague, wrote, “When important decisions to be made by tion contest (which he lost) and in he let loose, either in caucus or in the Parliament in our history and, there- 1953 (which he won) were chosen by commons, it was a formidable per- fore, the institution had to be accord- district meetings of Liberals through- formance that often saved the govern- ed all its usual privileges in debate. out the constituency. Campaigns were ment and won the day.” Three such Mark MacGuigan, a strong advocate of financed locally and it was unthink- speeches were central in extending the constitutional package, was a able for any party leader to designate a Pierre Trudeau’s political life in 1979.

POLICY OPTIONS 35 MARCH 2012 Thomas S. Axworthy

The first was a speech to caucus before Guaranteed Income Supplement to that process, he had to fight off the the vote on the budget on December raise Canada’s seniors from poverty or Department of Finance and their busi- 13, 1979, when MacEachen made a a new rent supplement program to ness allies, who wanted to delay and/or case for a vote against the Crosbie help low-income renters. kill the initiative. Medicare had been a budget and ended his pep talk with The platform committee decided central idea of the 1960 Kingston “You better all be there.” seniors should have the priority and Conference, where MacEachen was a Second, as the Liberal caucus met this became the major social plank of delegate, and the 1961 Liberal Rally after the vote, with Joe Clark having the Liberal 1980 platform. MacEachen made medicare the number one item gone to the governor general to gain took both the party executive and plat- in the Pearson agenda. As minister of dissolution, and an election staring form committee into his confidence health and welfare, MacEachen ful- caucus in the face, MacEachen made and treated them as equals, and both filled the Pearson platform pledge by the case for why Trudeau was the best times produced a consensus. piloting the medicare bill through leader to win the 1980 election. Third, MacEachen believed in a strong volun- Parliament and working on the details the following Saturday, as the national teer party with local autonomy and of the federal financial contribution to executive of the party met to consider responsibility. When the chips were provincial plans following the transi- what the caucus had done in asking down, he gave the platform committee tional period from 1967 to 1972. Trudeau to stay, MacEachen spoke real autonomy and they in turn used Medicare was introduced and given again to persuade the party executive this power responsibly. first reading in July 1966, with the goal to join the growing consensus. In addition to his being a parlia- of a commencement date of July 1, MacEachen was the perfect emissary mentarian and party loyalist, Allan J. 1967. Then the Department of Finance for the task. His roots in the party went MacEachen’s career can be defined by struck by requesting, in the fall of 1966, back to Louis St-Laurent. He had par- his long commitment to social justice. that medicare be delayed for an unspec- ticipated in the 1960 Kingston Allan MacEachen grew up in a town ified period of time. MacEachen and Conference that started the rebirth of where coal mining determined all, and other ministers fought back. The the Pearson-led party. He was a major where miners worked for $3.25 a day. October 1966 Liberal Policy Conference independent figure on his own, not a MacEachen’s mother was in poor reluctantly supported a one-year delay hired gun from the leader’s office, and health and his parents lost their three in medicare’s implementation, but as a Liberal icon, he was very persua- first-born children. MacEachen also made it clear that no further stalling by sive in gaining the support of the fell gravely ill in 1937, with an illness Finance would be tolerated. I attended national executive. In December 1980, at the Planning and Priorities Committee of he national executive, cabinet, MacEachen opposed a plan to impose time constraints T however, demanded that the party platform on parliamentary debate and said he felt so strongly about this committee play a major role that he would resign if the issue were pressed. Trudeau in deciding the 1980 plat- dropped the option of time allocation, then and there. form and here, too, MacEachen was masterful. He repre- that lingered and nearly prevented the public workshop on social change sented the caucus as one of the co- him from attending St. Francis Xavier where MacEachen and Mitchell Sharp, chairs of the platform committee, with University. For Allan MacEachen, the minister of finance, debated Lorna Marsden and Celine Hervieux social policy was never an abstraction. medicare. I attended, too, private meet- Payette being nominated by the party ings organized by Walter Gordon, to join him. Party members and caucus ore than any other single indi- where ministers like Jean Marchand colleagues jointly worked through the M vidual, he is responsible for the openly declared that they would resign various planks of the platform, guided passage and implementation of legisla- if Finance was allowed to kill medicare. skillfully by the co-chairs. To ensure tion creating national assistance for Ministers like Edgar Benson even the fiscal discipline of the exercise, medicare, a program that has declared publicly at the convention MacEachen presented the outline of improved the daily lives of Canadians that “we will have medicare by July 1, an alternative budget: by closing many more than any other in our history. 1968, and if we don’t, I will be one of of the tax loopholes then in our tax The history of medicare in Canada the ministers that is not a member of system, resources could be gained to shows what a near-run-thing the pas- the cabinet.” promote some, but not all, of the sage and implementation of this land- Finance was not finished, howev- social concerns of the policy commit- mark social advance was. MacEachen er. Throughout 1967, it made several tee. Two major ideas made the final was the minister responsible for the more attempts to delay medicare by round — regular increases of the medicare legislation and throughout arguing fiscal restraint and federal-

36 OPTIONS POLITIQUES MARS 2012 Old-Timers’ Day: What Grits can learn from hall-of-famer Allan J. MacEachen provincial difficulties. MacEachen, cessions to corporations and another accompanying the 1981 budget, backed by Walter Gordon, Jean $25 billion to individuals. Tax expen- Finance estimated that if all special tax Marchand and Paul Martin, eventually diture was as responsible for con- breaks were eliminated, tax rates for all prevailed and in 1968, Trudeau’s new tributing to Canada’s growing deficit could fall by 45 percent. But when the minister of finance, Edgar Benson, as the social expenditure on medicare details of the budget, such as the elim- made good on the pledge he had given that the business community contin- ination of income averaging annuity to the Young Liberals in 1966 by pro- ually harped on. In preparing the contracts, were announced on posing a social development tax to pay 1980 platform and fiscal framework November 12, 1981, all hell broke loose. The budget proposed To a Liberal Party that has torn itself apart by personal a fairer tax regime and it vendettas in recent years, MacEachen’s loyalty to the team increased resources for should be a salutary lesson. many worthwhile pro- grams. But while the losers for medicare. MacEachen won the bat- that shaped the options, tax expendi- in tax reform knew exactly who they tle over medicare. Today, it is the sin- ture reform or closing the loopholes were and how much they had lost, gle most popular policy the Liberal was a central piece in the planning there were no clear winners, as the Party of Canada has ever inaugurated, that allowed increasing the budget did not contain specific tax but it was opposed every step of the Guaranteed Income Supplement. cuts for low- or middle-income way by a very powerful bureaucracy, a Enriching the supplement between Canadians. It did not do so because significant wing of the Liberal cabinet 1980 and 1984 brought more than a ministers in other departments had and their business allies. MacEachen’s million seniors out of poverty. In already pocketed any increased rev- medicare fight reminds us of how hard 1980, the Tax Expenditure Account enues in the pre-budget planning it is to achieve social change and why document was frequently mentioned meetings in September. MacEachen progressives can never let down their in our media briefings about the plat- was forced to alter or withdraw several guard. form. But to my regret, the party specific proposals and with the “Victory has 1,000 fathers,” said never made tax reform a central elec- onslaught of a recession propelled by President John F. Kennedy. “Defeat is an tion theme in 1980, unlike energy sky-high interest rates originating in orphan.” Kennedy’s insight about policy or the increase in pensions for the policies of the United States “orphan” applies well to another seniors. Had we done so, the public Federal Reserve, MacEachen’s budget famous event in MacEachen’s career — would have been better prepared for was seen as contributing to economic the 1981 tax-reforming budget, which the scope of the 1981 budget. malaise rather than solving it. was certainly a political defeat and one which many of his colleagues were urthermore, at the cabinet retreat here are many lessons to be happy to lay at the feet of the minister F in Keltic Lodge, Cape Breton, in T learned from MacEachen’s 1981 of finance. In fact, MacEachen had long September 1981, cabinet colleagues budget. Fairness has lessened in our discussed his intentions to move on tax urged new spending in the billions of society since then, as executives pay reform with the party, his cabinet col- dollars. MacEachen resisted many of themselves compensations hundreds leagues and the PM. Trudeau reflected these demands, but it was agreed that of times greater than the average ruefully on the 1981 budget in his mem- an additional $4 billion would go into wages of their workers. The defeat of oirs that “by and large, MacEachen’s spending on the condition that new MacEachen’s budget shows, too, the plan had the approval of the Cabinet … tax revenues or reductions in the form necessity of adequate political commu- I had spent as much time on that budg- of fiscal flows to the provinces would nication and organization. The 1981 et as I had spent on any other through- offset this increase. As with the plat- budget was entirely consistent with out my term in office. But, like form committee in 1979-80, reducing the thrust of liberal activist policy, but MacEachen and others, I hadn’t gauged tax expenditure was a favourite theme tax reform had not been highlighted, the impact of it correctly.” of the ministers who urged more as had the Constitution and energy. spending on MacEachen. Thus, no body of public opinion had he origins of the 1981 budget The party and cabinet consensus been organized behind such a major T began in 1979, with MacEachen’s that it was time to move on tax reform initiative. Finally, the 1981 budget leadership of the Liberal platform found a ready audience within the points to the truth that no one is infal- process. In 1979, the Department of Department of Finance, which had lible: MacEachen’s sense of political Finance had produced a study enti- been worried about high-income exec- timing was legendary, but it failed him tled “Tax Expenditure Account,” utives arranging to be paid through in 1981. which detailed that Ottawa had given interest-free loans and other perks in With a recession gaining force and up more than $7 billion in tax con- order to avoid taxation. In documents no public constituency well prepared

POLICY OPTIONS 37 MARCH 2012 Thomas S. Axworthy

for the tax reform initiative, the fall of MacEachen was the product of Burke’s definition still applies — “joint 1981 was not the time to engage in tax an age when it meant something to endeavours” highlights that parties are reform, unless that reform could have be a member of the Liberal Party. He voluntary associations and “some par- been clearly seen as a way to combat was initially denied a nomination ticular principle” means that party vol- the economic ravages that were sweep- because he could not persuade the unteers share a common vision or at ing the nation. The spending plans of local party militants that he was the least similar views about key public ministers should have been scaled man for the job. From that day in policy issues. back in favour of low-income tax cred- 1949 until he retired from public life, Like all voluntary organizations, then, the basic question The party approved a constitutional amendment to create a that the Liberal Party must new “supporter” category of adherents that can vote in answer: Why should any- one join? Parties used to leadership selections without bothering to take out a provide jobs through membership. In effect, the Liberal Party has adopted the US patronage, a straightforward primary system to choose its future leaders. answer to why anyone should sign up, but that its or reductions in rates so that the MacEachen never lost touch with his function was largely eliminated a cen- budget would have had as many direct local party. tury ago by the public service commis- winners as losers. This is all hindsight. sion. The Liberal Party in 1919, then, But the Trudeau government collec- ut the most dramatic develop- came up with another answer — it gave tively made a mistake in underestimat- B ment of the 2012 convention party delegates one of the most critical ing the political power of the moved in exactly the opposite direc- responsibilities in politics, choosing well-to-do when they are aroused. If tion from the MacEachen tradition. the party leader. The role of the extra- today’s Liberal Party is serious about The party approved a constitutional parliamentary party then expanded. the national agenda it is promoting in amendment to create a new “support- The innovation of the primary, 2012, it will have to confront the tax er” category of adherents that can vote however, would take away from issue that defeated MacEachen. in leadership selections without both- Liberal volunteers the power that was Social liberalism, parliamentary ering to take out a membership. In given to them in 1919. If one could mastery and vigorous partisanship effect, the Liberal Party has adopted vote for party leader just by being an were the hallmarks of Allan the US primary system to choose its occasional supporter, what then is the MacEachen’s political career. What future leaders. incentive to join the party to become a lessons do these virtues hold for the There are both practical and con- committed member? The Liberal Party Liberal Party of today? Like ceptual objections to the primary idea. needs to enhance the role of the local MacEachen in his heyday, the Liberals For a primary system to work, Liberal volunteer, not dilute it. The current of 2012 still believe in the force of supporters will have to be identified. disease of the Liberal Party is that its government. The party approved pol- But who will do the identification? volunteers have no meaningful role — icy resolutions on a national housing With the Liberal Party so weak organi- the proposed solution of a primary sys- strategy, a national water policy, zationally in so many ridings, who will tem will only make that illness more home care, child care, post-secondary knock on the door to identify the new pronounced. education, seniors’ pensions, rail category of “supporters?” The party For the Liberal Party, the road to transportation and a host of other ini- has taken its weakest foundation — recovery will be long and hard. tiatives. But with the exception of one the lack of a large committed member- Liberals like Allan MacEachen have resolution in fiscal responsibility, the ship — and then given it a mammoth trod such a road in the past, helping party was quiet on how all of this was new job. This may turn out to be a the party recover from the defeats of to be paid for. MacEachen knew that bridge too far. 1958, 1979 and 1984. But by adopting revenue enhancement had to be the More fundamentally, giving occa- the gimmick of a primary system, twin of social advances. Few will take sional supporters the right to choose a today’s Liberals are taking a detour the Liberal Party platform at face leader dilutes the role of the commit- before they have even started. value until they have a real debate ted partisan, the exact role at which about tax policy. Yet, rather than Allan J. MacEachen excelled. Edmund Contributing Writer Thomas S. Axworthy beginning a fundamental rethink of Burke classically defined a political is a senior distinguished fellow at the Liberal policy, the party instead party as “a body of men united for pro- Munk School of Global Affairs and a returned to its old fetish of leadership moting by their joint endeavours the senior fellow at Massey College. He was by tinkering with the method of lead- national interest upon some particular principal secretary to Prime Minister ership selection. principle in which they are all agreed.” Trudeau from 1981 to 1984.

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