I am running for the position of National Policy Chair because I think that Canada is being sadly diminished by a selfish and uncaring politics that is by design exclusive, mean, and irresponsible instead of inclusive, empathetic, and responsible, the historic hallmarks of the Liberal Party of Canada.

It is time to reclaim those hallmarks and help restore Canada’s dignity.

Canada’s greatest strength has been that we care for each other, nurtured by the habit of inclusion, governed by the effort to give everyone a chance at a better life.

For me the political choice has become clear.

The Conservatives and the NDP respectively see the market and the state as an end -- not the means to an end -- dragging Canada back and forth across an ideological battleground.

To restore inclusion and empathy and responsibility at the centre of our collective imagination then the Liberal Party of Canada, champions of this belief, must reclaim its voice in a Canadian conversation that starts first at home with its own members, elected officers, and Members of Parliament before it can truly engage other Canadians and ask for their support.

This will take time, Canadians will be judging how we govern ourselves before they give us the chance to govern again.

But that Canadian conversation and the public policy it inspires must be rooted in liberal values that are founded on the principle that every life is of equal worth and that it is the duty of the community to give that life its fullest expression framed by inclusion, empathy, and responsibility.

I think that the position of National Policy Chair is to help ensure that’s exactly what happens, ruled by process and passion.

I hope you will grant me such an opportunity.

paulsummervillecanada@shaw.ca