Somebody do something

Preston Manning appeals to a general need for renewal in Ottawa.

Whatever the content of a “fresh start plan,” its necessity will never be accepted by politicians until we accept the principle that there are limits to partisanship that should be recognized and respected by all.

Those limits derive from the fact that voters are never as partisan as the partisans. They will never love us and our party as much as we do, and they will never dislike our opponents and their party as much as we may. When we step outside those boundaries – deifying our own cause and demonizing that of our opponents – we will lose public support. When we stay within those boundaries – clearly distinguishing ourselves from our opponents but in believable terms – we stand a better chance of restoring public confidence in ourselves, in our parties, in Parliament, and in democracy itself.

He manages, at the same time, to claim that the last session was “among the most productive in Canadian parliamentary history.” Ned Franks and David Mitchell disagree rather strongly. Paul Wells too.