EXCERPTS
At one point last Saturday afternoon in the main ballroom of the Delta hotel in downtown Ottawa, epicentre for the Broadbent Institute's first annual Progress Summit, Alex Himelfarb, a former clerk of the privy council and now co-editor of a book entitled Tax Is Not a Four-Letter Word, recalled being at a dinner party and wondering aloud about "how nice" it would be to have universal daycare in this country.
The crowd in the ballroom applauded. Apparently this is what progressives like to hear people are discussing at dinner parties.
"People say, ‘oh yeah, but how could we ever pay?'" Himelfarb continued.
He paused a beat before delivering the punchline.
"Taxes," he said, using a tone generally reserved for the pronunciation of the word "duh."
The crowd laughed and then applauded. A few attendees were moved to "whoo."
Those applauding might be keen to see tax rates generally increased. Or they might have simply appreciated hearing someone say something like this, out loud, on a public stage.
The Broadbent Institute exists, at least in part, for the purpose of saying certain things out loud-as a convener and promoter of progressive ideas and arguments and as a contributor to the public and political conversations. Like the Manning Centre at the other end of the spectrum, its success will be measured by the success of the ideas and the politicians it influences. And in its namesake and now its annual conference, the Broadbent Institute would seem to be matching the Manning Centre, though the former is perhaps a bit friskier than the latter. Consider Press Progress, an apparent attempt to be involved in the daily exchange of insight and mockery.
Of this particular moment in politics, progressives might sense an opportunity to be seized-or at least a tired, wobbly government to look forward to defeating. And, either luckily or problematically, they have options.
... read the full article online at Macleans.ca