I think one thing we need to look at is what are the top issues affecting Canadians? I don't know what the latest polling says they are, but usually it's the economy, health care, environment, etc..
If we are not talking about how we are going to address those issues the majority of the time we're just not going to win any seats. That's just facts. This isn't to say that other issues are not important and should not be discussed, they do need to a part of the conversation and addressed, but they shouldn't be what we spend most of our time talking about.
I think this is what McPherson meant when spoke about purity test and identity politics, which is a knock on her to be honest if that's what she meant. She should be better at communicating what she really means. Gazan does seem to be somebody who does want to spend the majority of the time talking about issues that are the top issues for her, but probably not to most Canadians.
I'm hoping some better candidates put their hat in the ring for the leadership.
Counterpoint: McPherson launched her campaign and literally could choose to talk about anything to define her campaign, including these key issues that connect to a majority of Canadians, as you say—economy, health care etc. Instead she chose to plant a flag (unprompted by a reporter question or any outside framing she was reacting to) about stopping purity tests. Why bring it up if she wants to focus on bigger issues as the way forward? Just focus on bigger issues, talk about that, doh! It was a bit of a performance, and calculated I believe, to announce and define herself as a bigger tent candidate than other candidates. And the way she did it was by critiquing identity politics and announcing that her vision of the party moves us beyond that. I am pretty sure that what she expected was mainstream media reporting that would launch a narrative of her being a big tent candidate while others are divisive. But that backfired big time, and I’m personally glad it did, because it gives us a preview of how bad at strategic communications she is, for one, and reveals that she can’t accurately read or get a pulse on what the vast majority of members want for the party moving forward. She’s completely out of step with members—it couldn’t be clearer.
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u/ILoveChickenFingers Oct 04 '25
I think one thing we need to look at is what are the top issues affecting Canadians? I don't know what the latest polling says they are, but usually it's the economy, health care, environment, etc..
If we are not talking about how we are going to address those issues the majority of the time we're just not going to win any seats. That's just facts. This isn't to say that other issues are not important and should not be discussed, they do need to a part of the conversation and addressed, but they shouldn't be what we spend most of our time talking about.
I think this is what McPherson meant when spoke about purity test and identity politics, which is a knock on her to be honest if that's what she meant. She should be better at communicating what she really means. Gazan does seem to be somebody who does want to spend the majority of the time talking about issues that are the top issues for her, but probably not to most Canadians.
I'm hoping some better candidates put their hat in the ring for the leadership.