On Saturday, I put out a sharply worded tweet taking aim at *some* of the supporters of a leadership candidate for
@OntLiberal.
The tweet was not directed at the candidate, but at many of his online supporters; people who are generally well to-the-right of Premier Doug Ford and have previously supported right wing and far right parties like the PPC.
Some are even publicly on record with transphobic and anti-immigrant views. Almost all have been deeply anti-Liberal Party partisans for years.
My thesis was intentionally misrepresented by this brigade of almost exclusively conservative male bros. The type that seem to exist solely online, are devoted to defeating Liberals while praising odious figures like Elon Musk.
But my argument was/is a very simple one: people who have long been committed to defeating Liberals and don't subscribe to the party's basic values, including a commitment to social justice and supporting the most vulnerable, shouldn't be welcomed with opens arms to
@OntLiberal - even amidst a time of rebuilding and renewal.
As I've said many times over the years, our party shouldn't be about purity tests: we must welcome new people into the fold; you can't meaningfully rebuild and renew without welcoming new blood and challenging the party's previously held positions and approaches.
But there is a fine line between attracting new voices and welcoming new members, who until today, have been dedicated to the defeat of Liberal parties at every level; people who will not remain Ontario Liberals for a second if their candidate of choice does not prevail.
I'm a Liberal because I believe in the marketplace of ideas and Liberal governments' record of nimbly adopting to new economic and geopolitical realities as we have seen with
@MarkJCarney's gov't on the federal scene.
But what I won't tolerate is people joining our party who are anti-union, transphobic, anti-immigrant and not committed to building a fairer and more inclusive Ontario.
We must aggressively rebuild this party in the lead-up to the 2029 Ontario election. But we must do so in a prudent and thoughtful way; in a way that does not unintentionally welcome tourists into our party in a way that could prove destabilizing and ultimately counterproductive to our rebuilding efforts.
#cdnpoli #onpoli