Why I am a Liberal by Margaret M. Stewart (BC)

January 19, 2024

In 1962 my mother and I went, with thousands of other Torontonians, to hear a “new” Liberal politician speak at a large open park in Scarborough. His name was Pierre Elliot Trudeau.

In my memory I can see people crowding silently into the park and listening as Mr. Trudeau spoke about Canada, about our sense of fair play, our willingness to welcome newcomers, our sense of being “Canadian” from coast to coast to coast and what that meant to all of us. The crowd heard about the core of our very special values in the world as it was then. At the end of his talk there was a thunderous roar of approval and response. My mother and I left with all the others, smiling and going out into the day with a sense that all would be well in Canada’s future.

My mother’s family were staunch Conservatives enmeshed in Canada’s military going back to when American-German Loyalist veterans came to Southern Ontario. My mother’s husband and his family were also Military – and so for her to break out and become a convinced Liberal caused a lot of conflict as Liberalism was viewed as “creeping Socialism” at that time by Conservatives. But, after hearing Pierre Elliot Trudeau speak on that special day in the park – we voted Liberal.

I joined the LPC in 2011, much later in life, and the Senior Liberals’ Commission in 2016, serving in whatever role I can do most good, as a writer and former broadcaster. Why? Because the Liberal way is still based, as Mr. Trudeau said, on fairness, on reasonableness, on kindness, on consideration for those less fortunate, and with a view to a glorious Canada now and in the future. And that’s why I am a Liberal.

Margaret M. Stewart