A talk with Murray Calder

I had a good talk today with Murray Calder, a former Member of Parliament, about the future of the Liberal Party.

Murray allowed me to speak directly on the blog about our discussion.

We spoke of many things but a central point Murray made was that the median age in Canada is now early 40s. In 1960 the median age was under 20.

There are significant political implications of this aging. Canadians today are concerned about stability and certainty. Change is not seen as inherently a good thing.

This means our policies must recognize that Canadians need to be convinced change is good and incremental change is likely more palatable than massive shifts. More generally, having a Leader, for example, over a longer period is good because people will come to accept that Leader as a steady constant presence.

We spoke of much more (rural engagement for example) and I probably have not done full justice to Murray's thoughts -- that said, we have to understand and appreciate the changes brought by an aging nation.