Bob Rae and his New Democratic Liberals may have lost the Laurier advantage amongst Métis

Putting on my own Métis Aboriginal cultural and Liberal Reform political hats for a second, I think by ignoring the people's voice and choice, especially the Métis constituents who make up the majority in Saskatchewan's Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River, the chance of breaking down the status quo regime in that riding tomorrow has a nil to null percentage of change and therefore Bob Rae and his New Democratic Liberals may have lost the Wilfrid Laurier advantage amongst Métis. Not only for this byelection, but perhaps for others in the future as well, as these New Democratic Liberals, who stand for more government, less freedom and the continuance of excessive government interference, principles that fly in the face of Métis culture quite specifically, seem not to have learnt their lessons of the past. These principles also hurt the original cause of Reformed Liberals, ones who have watched big government after big government, dictatorial administration after dictatorial administration tell us what to do and why all of us should do their bidding with force to boot.

Bob Rae, a former Premier of Ontario, who has moved the party from the supposed center to the crowded supposed left, thus creating the New Democratic Liberals, has really made it hard for Stephane Dion to get any tread, as the Old Progressive Conservatives under Tory Prime Minister Stephen Harper move from the supposed right to retake more of the vacated supposed center from Dion. This may help both in the urban ridings of Toronto Centre, Willowdale and Quadra of Vancouver, where a larger welfare state through more taxation with less representation is fine and dandy, but where does that leave those in rural northern Saskatchewan who pay more and get less? Worse, that our Liberals have decided to move once more closer to a big government modern New Democrat policy and now further away from its historic small government Reformed policy and mentality traditionally, especially in denying members the basic democratic ability to make a grassroots run for nomination in their riding by making a top down selection, all of which tells me that no restoration of its old values has taken place internally since the last scandal, which means future governments and administrations, both dictarorial and big, will keep doing the same things, making the same mistakes and then once again will be asking us all to pay for them in the end!

Rae, Dion and the NDL may have decided to ignore the ideals of Laurier, reformed liberal ideals which honestly made him so loved by the Métis and Québécois minority of the day, backing Louis Riel when he was down for the count in Regina, after Tory Prime Minister John A. Macdonald showed him in the Northwest Rebellion what the power of a real statist government could do to make up for the Red River Rebellion at the Battle of Batoche. Laurier, a Reformed Liberal, could have gone with the grain, but he bucked the going trend, set his foot down and made it clear that he would not have any of it, to which he was supported from that next election time on and the party has done well for a full century ever after since. Tomorrow night Riel, the heroic patriot, founder of Manitoba and a reconciliated Father of Confederation, and his descendents of today in Desnethé—Missinippi—Churchill River will look on with disgust at the current affair that is federal politics in the Dominion, but with hope, a genuine hope that perhaps we can all work together and strive for a more consensual politics of days yore, that brings true choice towards a chance at real domestic change in this very foreign system.