Why are you the best person to lead the Liberal Party?

I am in this leadership race because I believe we must rebuild the Liberal Party of Canada to counter to the precipitous decline in Canadians’ confidence and engagement in national politics. We must once again be the distinctive voice for bold national leadership – the party of One Canada for all Canadians. The party that can bring forward a new direction, a new vision, and a long-term roadmap and ideas to move us forward together earning the trust and support of Canadians.

At the heart of my vision of One Canada for All Canadians is a more inclusive Canada. It is a Canada where citizens, communities, governments come together to build a better country.

I believe Canadians want a strong federal government to take the leadership role that Stephen Harper has deliberately abandoned. Not to dictate to Canadians, but to inspire us, to guide us and to bring us together. The federal government, as the only level of government elected by – and answering to – all Canadians, has a unique mandate to serve the national interest, and rally the nation in service of shared challenges and common ideals.

Where would you situate yourself on the political spectrum?

I believe the traditional left-right political spectrum is no longer relevant. The polarized politics of left versus right is not what ordinary Canadians want; it is a creation of an outdated mindset that values winning at any cost, while Canadians are interested in getting things done.

I am a liberal – a Canadian without borders – outward looking, internationalist, progressive, principled – committed to the belief that respecting the dignity of our neighbour respects the dignity of us all.

Bold national leadership thrives on the demands and realities of our times – a world where the old ideological polarities make little sense and the traditional tug-of-war between provincial and federal jurisdiction is a dangerous distraction from the nation’s urgent business – whether we are combating climate change or maintaining competitiveness in a rapidly evolving global economy. National leadership is not about imposing blueprints or micromanaging matters better left to other levels of government. It is about articulating vision and principles that bring citizens and governments together to work in the national interest.

What are the key points in your platform? What issues would you champion as leader?

I have set out a long-term Roadmap to One Canada and outlined my particular priorities for the economy [https://www.deborahcoyne.ca/my-three-top-priorities-the-economy-the-economy-and-the-economy/].

We must focus on strengthening Canada and our responsibilities to one another as citizens of this great country. We must make our vote count and make Parliament relevant again. And we must have effective coherent national government in a more collaborative and inclusive federation.

What does One Canada look like? It is a Canada where we can access the same quality of health care in St. John’s as we can in Toronto. Where our abundant natural resources are developed sustainably based on the best science and the most advanced environmental standards, and we tackle boldly the critical infrastructure deficit in our towns and cities. Where skilled citizens can go where the jobs are and take their certifications with them, and where everyone who needs it can get the transitional support and training to help them find new work.

Some things, like health care standards, a national price on carbon, or an Infrastructure Financing Authority, can only be pursued in national forums. All Canadians benefit when we all cooperate to lower drug prices, share best practices in health, and establish national environmental standards that ensure the competition for investment and jobs in Canada is won by a race to the top, not the bottom.

Canadians want to see an end to top-down and insular government. A government that – from science to healthcare, to the environment, to infrastructure, to our relations with Aboriginal Canadians – is deliberately letting us drift apart, conditioning us to expect less and less of our national government and of ourselves.

There has never been a better time to give Canadians a clear choice between a Canada where we all work together in the national interest, and the Canada of Mr. Harper where everyone fends for themselves.

What was the cause of the Liberal Party’s recent downward trajectory and what does the party need to do to win the next federal election?

The Liberal Party lost our raison d’être – Canadians no longer had a clear sense of what we stood for that was different, clear and distinctive. I want the Liberal Party to speak clearly for restoring the effective coherent national government we need to do great things together as Canadians, to build a better country and a better world – One Canada for All Canadians.

It is not enough to talk about values – of course, we all believe in equality, fundamental freedoms, non-discrimination, diversity, fairness and the rule of law. And it is not enough to just say we are the party that is fiscally prudent and socially progressive. Both the NDP and the Green Party are laying claim to this ground.

What we need to ask ourselves is, what makes the Liberal Party unique? What makes us different?   I believe we once were – and can once again be – the party that puts Canada first. The party that – instead of exploiting regional differences and pandering to narrow constituencies – focuses on what we have in common, and inspires all Canadians to work together in the national interest. For One Canada.

This vision of strong national government and national ambitions has been missing for some time.

We used to be a country that dreamed big. That looked over the horizon and took on big projects, to build a better country. A public health care system. Public pensions. When was the last time Canadians were inspired to look beyond our own interests, to dream big, to be bold? And where has this lack of leadership from successive national governments taken us?

Our national economic union is seriously incomplete. National standards in social, economic and environmental programs are increasingly weak or absent. And internationally, we have gone from being one of the world’s most outward-looking, diverse and cosmopolitan democracies to a fading presence in our global community.

More than ever we need now to renew our sense of national purpose, pull together to overcome economic uncertainty, and repair our broken social contract with one other. We need a national government that will sit in the same room with all the other levels of government – provincial, territorial, municipal, Aboriginal – and take the lead, working collectively, to strengthen Canada. Canadians urgently need the Liberal Party to step up to the plate, and provide the bold national leadership so glaringly absent today.

I want us to go into the next election campaign with a clear, specific and focused platform – here is what we stand for, here is what we need to accomplish – and earn a mandate from Canadians to get it done.

Which candidate do you have the most in common with? (ideologically/philosophically).

We are fortunate to have a great field of candidates in this leadership race, and I look forward to working with them on the Liberal team going forward.

What do you think is the biggest misconception about yourself?

I think the biggest misconception about my platform is that promoting One Canada and strong national leadership means running everything out of Ottawa. Nothing could be further from the truth. My platform is all about bringing Canadians together.

All my proposals aim to create the sort of open, transparent and non-ideological government that Canadians are seeking in this new information age. The old provincial and federal silos are no longer relevant – we must all come together if we are to face the challenges of the 21^st century.

When Canada has accomplished great things – such as medicare and public pensions – it took collaboration across jurisdictions and levels of governments. When the challenge has demanded it, Canadians have always been able to rise above any conflict and disagreements to commit to common national objectives that strengthen Canada. In recent years though, we have lost that sense of national purpose, and of national leadership.

The challenge is to modernize our federation and move to much greater openness and transparency in working together with all other levels of government – that includes municipal and Aboriginal governments, as well as provincial and territorial.

Canadians understand that most of the issues we face today cannot be neatly allocated to this or that jurisdiction, but require all governments working together constructively. We want a better-functioning federation that fosters the open collaboration of all levels of government – so government can help Canadians meet the real challenges that we all face on a daily basis: finding and keeping a good job with decent pay, raising our children in a safe and clean environment, caring for elderly parents and disabled relatives and ensuring enough food is on the table.

My proposals to create a Council of Canadian Governments, a Canadian Commission on Fiscal Transfers, and an Infrastructure Financing Authority are designed to modernize our federation and adapt it to the 21^st century exigencies of greater collaboration and inclusiveness.

We need to engage Canadians in strengthening a sense of national purpose. I believe we can rebuild the Liberal Party to be the party of principle and bold national leadership that stands for a Canada that is more than the sum of its parts.

Canada is a land of vast opportunity with a vibrant, globally connected population and extraordinary and expanding human energy and potential. It is time to fully embrace what we can do as a country and as a people, to unleash this tremendous energy – the ideas, the talents, and the drive. Join me in my vision of tomorrow’s Canada: a powerhouse of prosperity, sustainable living, and social justice.