OTTAWA (NEWS1130) - Bob Rae has kicked off a three-day Liberal convention with a ringing assertion that the party is not dead, nor even in its death throes. The interim Liberal leader says the once-mighty party was knocked down but not out in last May's federal election.
The Liberals, who were once labelled as the country's natural governing party, were reduced to a third-party status with less than 20 per cent of the popular vote and only 34 seats.
Rae says core Liberal values "such as the belief in equality of opportunity, equal rights, pluralism and tolerance" continue to resonate deeply with Canadians.
He says the challenge is to re-engage people who share those values and to win back their trust.
Rae is urging about 3,000 convention delegates to embrace vigorous debate on policy issues and proposals to modernize the party but not to revive the internal feuds which have plagued the party for decades.